The Largest Contributor of Political Violence

If you ask someone with a left-leaning bias, they will be quick to point out that most political violence is committed by right-wing extremists. If you ask someone with a right-leaning bias, they will also be quick to point out that most political violence is committed by left-wing extremists. Each side has an interest in not having the finger pointed at them, and each have their systems of analysis, data collection, and research.

Unfortunately, it is very easy to lie with studies. Going back to the time of mass marketing cigarettes, many credible doctors and professionals shamelessly promoted the idea that smoking was healthy. The cigarette companies had their research and all signs pointed to the safety, efficacy, and benefit of smoking. A study can say whatever the person who funds the study wants it to say. This is fact.

Starting Points

The question of who commits the most political violence is a difficult and impossible question to answer. I don’t believe it is the right question.

The right question is: what are the guiding ideologies, beliefs, and understandings of various groups, and which of these are the most violent? Which groups trend towards violence in their understandings of the world?

By focusing on the group’s identity and positions, a more fair assessment can be reached. This is because the analysis is only as good as the data. If the powers that investigate political violence are political themselves, then their studies and data are compromised.

It is hard for me to imagine, given our current political climate, that the powers that have been are without any political bias. And I would even go so far as to say this apolitical stance is impossible. Everyone has a bias.

If crimes are not reported or counted, they will not show up in the statistics. These are either lies of omission or simple incompetence. Either way, it’s like the saying that “87% of all statistics are made up”.

Bounding Scope

What really matters is Party and Group identity, direction, and belief. Therefore, the scope of my analysis must start by identifying the groups, identifying the leading/guiding voices in the groups, and then deeply understanding what they say and have said.

This is no easy feat. Who the leading/guiding voices are may be a point of contention, since there may be disagreement on whom the leading/guiding voices are, if they are actually leading voices, and who the ultimate authority figure of the group really is.

As this is the case, the most original source of each ideology should be investigated, understood, and agreed upon. If other primary sources are believed to be more relevant, a similar analysis can be conducted on each.

Ideological Branches

• Primary voices are intellectual or ideological originators.
• Secondary voices adapt, globalize, or systematize ideas.
• Tertiary voices are modern popularizers, propagandists, and digital translators.

This genealogy shows how today’s extremist groups are not isolated: they are branches growing from a few, deeply influential ideological roots.

Left-Wing Extremism

Primary (Foundational)

• Karl Marx – Communist Manifesto, Das Kapital.
• Friedrich Engels – Co-author and developer of Marxism.
• Vladimir Lenin – Vanguard party and revolutionary violence.
• Mao Zedong – People’s war, peasant-based revolution.

Secondary (Adaptors & Militants)

• Leon Trotsky – Permanent revolution.
• Che Guevara – Guerrilla warfare theorist.
• Ho Chi Minh – Synthesized Marxism with anti-colonial struggle.
• Frantz Fanon – The Wretched of the Earth, violence in decolonization.

Tertiary (Radicalizers & Contemporary Influencers)

• Weather Underground leaders (Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn).
• Red Army Faction leaders (Andreas Baader, Ulrike Meinhof).
• CrimethInc and eco-anarchist collectives.
• Ted Kaczynski – Unabomber, influential in anti-industrial anarchism.

Right-Wing Extremism

Primary (Foundational)

• Joseph de Maistre – Counter-Enlightenment philosopher, defender of absolute monarchy.
• Charles Maurras – Leader of Action Française, proto-fascist nationalist.
• Adolf Hitler – Mein Kampf as ideological cornerstone of Nazism.
• Benito Mussolini – Originator of fascist doctrine and corporatism.

Secondary (Adaptors & Systematizers)

• Francis Parker Yockey – Postwar fascist thinker, Imperium.
• George Lincoln Rockwell – Founder of American Nazi Party.
• William Luther Pierce – The Turner Diaries, blueprint for far-right terror.
• Louis Beam – Promoter of “leaderless resistance.”

Tertiary (Contemporary Translators)

• Richard Spencer – Alt-right figure.
• Jared Taylor – White nationalist intellectual.
• Nick Fuentes – Groyper movement leader.
• Stewart Rhodes – Oath Keepers militia founder.

Islamist Extremism

Primary (Foundational)

• Sayyid Qutb – Milestones, call for Islamic vanguard.
• Abul A’la Maududi – Vision of Islamic state.
• Hassan al-Banna – Founder of Muslim Brotherhood.

Secondary (Adaptors & Globalizers)

• Osama bin Laden – Al-Qaeda founder, transnational jihad.
• Ayman al-Zawahiri – Jihadist strategist.
• Abu Musab al-Suri – Theorist of decentralized jihad.
• Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi – ISIS caliphate leader.

Tertiary (Contemporary Propagandists)

• Anwar al-Awlaki – U.S.-born cleric, online radicalizer.
• Samir Khan – Co-creator of Inspire magazine.
• ISIS media (Dabiq, Rumiyah).
• Online jihadist recruiter networks.

Analysis Results

[Analysis started and still ongoing. Last updated: 09-25-25]