Foreign State Funding and Predicate Subversion: Exploring Malign Influence

Growing concern with the subversive intentions of foreign governments – through the financing of domestic groups including charities, religious institutions and media outlets – has once again reappeared as a core security concern for Europe. By exerting well-targeted influence, state agitators may be enabled to amplify hateful, anti-pluralistic ideas among local populations, creating fertile conditions for radicalisation, violent extremism, and finally terrorism.

In this report, Noémi També assesses whether and how foreign state funding of anti-democratic ideology should be prevented, monitored or limited. She considers if malign influence constitutes a terrorism financing threat, and if it could be identified and repelled via the existing elements of the counter-terrorism financing regime.

Noemi Tambe and Stephen Reimer