A New ISIS is Brewing in Ukraine

US Imperialism Made ISIS. A similar Monster made out of Ukraine's neo-Nazis will wreak havoc in Europe.

Europe is entering a dangerous new era of fascism. Emboldened Neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups, funded and armed by the United States government in the name of fighting Russia, are gaining power and influence. These far-right extremist groups, including the Azov Battalion which is integrated into the Ukrainian National Guard, are the new face of fascism in Europe. They wrap themselves in the flag of anti-Russian nationalism but their core ideology is one of racial superiority, hatred of immigrants and Jews, and a belief in authoritarianism.

The delusions of racial supremacy peddled by these Ukrainian fascists would be farcical if they were not so dangerous. No one alive today had any choice or agency over the conditions into which they were born, their ethnic ancestry or their native land. And yet these petty tyrants and ‘brown shirts’ with delusions of grandeur champion a twisted ideology of genetic pre-eminence - an ideology that history has rightly consigned to the dustbin.

How a nation that could not organize a two-car funeral, and whose leaders have pilfered its wealth for decades, produces specimens that see themselves as the ‘master race’ is a question for psychology, not politics. Their inflated sense of superiority seems to rise in direct proportion to their ignorance and incompetence. But while these purveyors of hate may be little more than thugs with warped beliefs of pre-eminence, the weapons and legitimacy they are accruing make them a threat far greater than the sum of their demented fantasies.

The parallels with the rise of fascism in Europe in the 1930s are chilling. The Nazi party also began as a fringe movement, fueled by the economic collapse of Weimar Germany, the collective trauma of World War I, and a hatred of Jews, leftists, and immigrants. Once the Nazis took power, the Weimar Republic collapsed within months. These proto-fascist groups in Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe, which spew bile about “subhumans” and plot to eradicate “inferior” races, have the potential to unleash similar bloodbaths on the European continent. The United States government has opened a Pandora's box in Ukraine. And the evil within will not stop at Russia's border.

The recent riots in the United Kingdom, particularly the Southport riots, serve as a stark example of the growing Nazi threat in Europe. Fueled by xenophobia and misinformation, these riots have seen far-right groups attacking immigrants and Muslims, with hotels housing asylum seekers being torched. The tragic stabbing of three young girls in Southport was twisted by false narratives on social media, leading to an explosion of violence that has gripped multiple towns across the UK. Far-right figures like Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage have fanned the flames of hatred, with the latter even attempting to justify the riots. This surge in far-right extremism, reminiscent of the 1930s, underscores the urgent need for European nations to confront and contain the spread of neo-Nazi ideologies as they are spiraling out of control. The Southport riots should be a wake-up call, demonstrating that the far-right threat is not confined to Ukraine but is metastasizing across the continent.

A far-right extremist is detained by a police officer during England’s anti-immigrant riots. [Hollie Adams/Reuters]

ISIS 2.0

Indeed, history threatens to repeat itself once more. In Syria and Iraq, where for years the U.S. funded and armed extremist groups to advance its geopolitical chess game, ISIS was born - an uncontrollable monster that often turns against its masters. Now Europe faces an eerily similar threat as the U.S. funds Neo-Nazi militias in Ukraine, empowering far-right groups with dreams of global ambition, and ethnically cleansing Europe of Jews, non-whites and sexual minorities.

The U.S. has learned nothing. When Washington funds and arms extremism to manipulate events abroad, it is like releasing a virus that ultimately knows no borders. The extremism unleashed returns to harm its enablers. ISIS preyed upon the weaknesses and conflicts in the Middle East ignited by misguided U.S. interventions, just as Neo-Nazi groups seize upon political chaos and economic distress in Europe today to spread their hateful ideology.

Militias like the Azov Battalion, which has sought to rebrand itself as a defender of Western ‘civilization’—a claim that rings disturbingly true given the West's ongoing support for genocides and ethnic cleansing—have risen to prominence in Ukraine thanks to American money and weapons. They represent a Neo-Nazi ISIS in the making, as dangerous ideologues with global aspirations now have combat experience, weaponry, and the cloak of political legitimacy. If Europe does not act quickly, far-right extremism will rage across its lands as fiercely as the Islamic State swept across Syria and Iraq.

There is a moral to this story, and a warning: Bad policies have bad consequences. The hubris of imperial overreach breeds extremism. Europe must demand America end its reckless interventions that create monsters abroad, or pay the price at home. Blowback is real. The flames of extremism in Ukraine today threaten to become an inferno on European soil tomorrow. We know the wages of policies that cultivate terrorism for political gain. The time is now to stand up against forces that would manipulate extremism as a strategy for power rather than defeat it. Our shared future depends on it. The fire is catching - but we still have a chance to contain it before the world burns. The Islamic State was our Frankenstein. Ukraine's Neo-Nazi groups will be worse.

- Karim