Popular Writing, Op-Eds and other Essays
Recent MSBNC Columns
As an MSNBC Opinion Columnist, Miller-Idriss writes regular op-ed essays. See recent essays here:
December 16, 2022
January 5, 2022
"America's Most Urgent Threat Now Comes From Within." The New York Times.
January 3, 2022
September/October 2021
"From 9/11 to 1/6: The War on Terror Supercharged the Far Right." Foreign Affairs. Volume 100, No. 5: 54-65.
June 15, 2021
“The U.S. is fighting extremism all wrong." The Atlantic. June 15, 2021.
June 15, 2021
“Biden strategy takes on homegrown extremism." The Boston Globe. June 15, 2021.
May 8, 2021
“How Parents Can Learn to Recognize Online Radicalization and Prevent Tragedy—in 7 Minutes.” With Susan Corke. USA Today, May 8, 2021.
April 30, 2021
"Strengthening Democracy is the Key to Preventing Far-Right Extremism." Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
April/May 2021
"Uniting for Total Collapse: The January 6 Boost to Accelerationism." With Brian Hughes. CTC Sentinel, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point. April/May 2021: 12-18.
March 2021
"White Supremacist Extremism and the Far Right in the U.S." Gale Primary Sources/Cengage.
February 3, 2021
"A Plan to Beat Back the Far Right: Violent Extremism in America Demands a Social Response." With Daniel Koehler. Foreign Affairs, February 3, 2021.
January 22, 2021
“From White House to dark web.” Tortoise Media. January 22, 2021
January 20, 2021
“A White House task force on white supremacy.” One of two dozen short, invited expert essays asked to submit bold ideas as part of a feature, “Biden Wants to Unite the Country. How Can He Do It?” Politico, January 20, 2021.
January 13, 2021
“Capitol attack was an epiphany for the far right. It better be one for the rest of us, too.” Boston Globe. January 13, 2021.
December 15, 2020
“When the Far Right Penetrates Law Enforcement: America Can Learn from Germany’s Response.” Foreign Affairs, December 15, 2020.
October 2020
“In Whose Interest? Gender and Far Right Politics in the United States.” Democracy and Human Rights series, Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Washington, DC, October 2020.
October 2, 2020
“Trump's Proud Boys debate shoutout energized the entire far right. The damage is done.” USA Today, October 2, 2020.
September 8, 2020
“Portland and Kenosha violence was predictable—and preventable.” The Conversation, September 8, 2020. Essay syndicated and republished in U.S. News and World Report, Salon, and local outlets across the U.S. and in Germany.
September 3, 2020
“We’re asking the wrong questions about far-right extremism.” The Hill, publication date September 3, 2020.
July 19, 2020
“We’re living in a perfect storm for extremist recruitment. Here’s what we can do to stop it.” CNN, publication date July 19, 2020.
June 4, 2020
Invited short essay included in “It Really Is Different This Time.” Politico. One of two dozen contributions by experts as part of a feature on the George Floyd protests, publication date June 4, 2020.
May 1, 2020
“The risks of online radicalization in the COVID-19 era.” Essay commissioned for the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Coronavirus Blog, “Solidarity beyond the crisis,” publication date May 1, 2020.
March 12, 2020
“As classes move online, human connections matter more than ever.” The Washington Post, essay for Valerie Strauss’ Answer Sheet
February 19, 2020
“Stop Calling Far Right Terrorists ‘Crazy.’” Politico
October 9, 2019
"Training the Foreign Policy Experts We Need," with Mitchell Stevens. Inside Higher Ed
August 29, 2019
August 4, 2019
"Gun Reform Alone Won't Address White Supremacy." The Boston Globe
July 30, 2019
"The far right is really good at tricking you into giving it free advertising." Quartz, July 30, 2019, with La'Nita Johnson.
June 17, 2019
"What is a good death? How my mother planned hers is a good road map for me." The Washington Post
May 17, 2019
How to counter far-right extremism? Germany shows the way." The Guardian
April 2019
"L’Allemagne a développé l’approche la plus complète de la lutte contre l’extrême droite." Le Monde, 4 April 2019. English version, "How to Prevent Hate," published by the Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right Insight Blog on 9 April 2019.
January 24, 2019
"Women are Joining the Far Right- We Need to Understand Why." With Hilary Pilkington, The Guardian
January 10, 2019
December 6, 2018
"When Hate Speech and Free Speech Collide." With Jonathan Friedman for Diverse Issues in Higher Education
December 4, 2018
"My Mother Has Forgotten Everything, Including Me. But I Still Feel Her Love," The Washington Post, November 29, 2018. Republished in the New Zealand Herald, November 30, 2018; in the Chicago Tribune, December 2, 2018; in The Lily
October 19, 2018
"Lessons I Learned-- and You Can, Too-- From My 'Today Show' Appearance." The Chronicle of Higher Education
October 2, 2018
"How Love Drives Extremism." Fair Observer, October 2, 2018, with Daisy Gebbia-Richards
September 18, 2018
"The far right's love/hate relationship with social science." Times Higher Education
September 10, 2018
"En Allemagne, « un niveau de coopération inédit entre les groupes d’extrême droite »" in Le Monde, September 6, 2018, with Daniel Koehler; English-language version, "The United German Extreme Right," published in openDemocracy.
August 7, 2018
"The Moral World of the Radical Right." Fair Observer
May 17, 2018
May 3, 2018
"The Radical Right's Cult of the Body." Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right, Insight Blog
April 21, 2018
April 10, 2018
"Commercialization and the Far Right: Consuming and Constituting Extremism." Economic Sociology and Political Economy blog
March 8, 2018
"U.S. Social Scientists Must Look Beyond Their Own Borders." Times Higher Education, March 8, 2018, with Mitchell Stevens.
March 6, 2018
"To Working Moms Everywhere: I am Here, Cheering You On." Refinery29
March 6, 2018
Guest Blog Post: Teaching and Learning About the World in the U.S. University, National Association for Study Abroad (NAFSA)
March 1, 2018
Essay for the "Page 99" test, in which authors are asked to turn to page 99 of their book and reflect on whether and how it is representative of the book's overall arguments. The Page 99 Test
September 29, 2017
"It's not the past that matters most about the German elections: It's what comes next." With Daniel Koehler, Huffington Post
June 21, 2017
"My daughter's favorite teacher is transgender. Here's why that matters." The Huffington Post
May 2017
"My mother forgot who I was, and it made me a better daughter." The Washington Post, May 12, 2017. (Reprinted in The National Post (Canada), May 12, 2017 and The Independent (U.K.), May 16, 2017)
**Listen to a radio interview I gave about the essay with Mark Sutcliffe here**
March 7, 2017
"What to teach kids beyond 'resist' and 'persist' in the midst of so much hate." The Washington Post
February 13, 2017
“The Most Dangerous National Security Threat that Donald Trump is Ignoring.” Fortune.com, February 13, 2017, with Daniel Köhler.
December 2016
“Teaching and Learning about the Middle East.” SSRC Items, December 2016, with Seteney Shami.
September 1, 2016
“The Emotional Attachment of National Symbols,” The New York Times opinion forum, Room for Debate
May 7, 2015
“U.S. Higher Education and Inbound Student Mobility: Domestic Displacement or Natural Progression?,” The Conversation, with Bernhard Streitwieser
2015