No terrorist has legitimate grievances – white supremacists and Islamic extremists are both motivated by insane conspiracy theories.

Kamali first maps out the ideo-theological underpinnings of White nationalism. Inspired by a moral imperative named the ‘Fourteen Words’, the slogan ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children!’ penned by David Lane, a member of The Order (a terrorist organization), White nationalism rests on a conviction of the inherent superiority of the White race and concurrent support for a White ethno-state (40–41). The fabric of contemporary White nationalism in the USA, Kamali writes, is largely shaped by racist networks and factions including Christian Identity, Creativity and Wotanism. These factions articulate racism as a foundational driving force for the future of White superiority (57). Religion is exclusively utilized to underpin their racist White supremacist ideology and justify violence. The idea of the survival, expansion and advancement of the White race is a supreme ideological goal, for which utilizing racial and religious discourses, as well as violence and militancy, are considered vital (62). Similarly, Kamali maintains, seven centuries of Islamic theology have been decontextualized or distorted by militant Islamists to provide grounds for violence against the USA and its citizens, including Muslims. She claims that one of the most fundamental religious doctrines of militant Islamists is al-walāʾ wa-l-barāʾ, understood as ‘loyalty and solidarity to Muslims and disavowal of anything and anyone considered un-Islamic’ (96). This underlying principle divides the world into the abode of Islam, the abode of unbelief, and the abode of war, reinforcing disparities and divergences.

As with the ideological underpinnings (i.e. the Fourteen Words, and loyalty and disavowal), narratives of victimhood have also been essential conceptual and practical bedrocks for both groups. While White nationalists emphasize the so-called White genocide and the necessity of securing the existence and future of the White race, militant Islamists look to the sufferings of Muslims abroad (e.g. in Palestine, Afghanistan). White nationalists underline immigration and relevant demographic changes to support their allegation of a White genocide (119), whilst militant Islamists ‘proclaim’ that the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Guantanamo detention facility are stark examples of America’s crusade against Muslims and the Islamic world (151). Kamali thus convincingly shows how a sense of victimhood (citing a White genocide on the one hand and the crusades on the other), combined with ideo-theological propaganda, is deployed to justify violence.

What then follows is warfare, Kamali writes. White nationalists exclusively believe that the future of the White race is dependent on an aggressive struggle in the form of a racial holy war or RAHOWA. Equally, American militant Islamists hold the view that non-Muslims hate, conspire against and attack Islam and Muslims; therefore, jihad, exclusively understood as a form of armed struggle, is the only way to defend Islam and ensure a global caliphate (177). Accordingly, Kamali maintains, the ultimate goal of White nationalists is to reconstruct the USA as a White ethno-state (183), while militant Islamists desire to establish a global caliphate that encompasses the USA (195). Kamali further contends that both groups’ ideological orientations rely in part on the idea of end times and the final war between good and evil, which will bring about their respective ultimate objectives. To underpin these narratives, scriptures are utilized as ‘eschatological guidebooks’, which are then exploited to ‘activate the End Times’ (214). Regardless of whether such grand narratives underpin political violence, they sustain a ‘sense of identity and belonging, conferring upon mortal political pursuits an immortal purpose’ (218).