The DHS’s identification of left-wing and oppositional political movements with violent extremism in the US is part of a growing international trend. The German Secret Service (Verfassungsschutz) has maintained a list of “left-wing extremist” groups as “objects of observation” by the state.

As is also the case in the US, all of the major parties of Germany’s ruling establishment have encouraged the development of extreme right-wing and neo-fascist political parties, the primary preoccupation of the state is the growth of support for socialist politics within the working class and among students.