Yannick Veilleux-Lepage
Alumni- Education
Veilleux-Lepage holds a doctorate in International Relations from the University of St Andrews in Scotland. He earned a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs in Ontario, Canada. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Security Studies) from Carleton University.
- Biography
Dr. Veilleux-Lepage is an Assistant Professor with the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University.
He worked previously as a Senior Researcher in the Transcultural Conflict and Violence Initiative. Here, he worked on Department of Defense funded projects analyzing online extremist discourse and media products produced by extremist groups.
Dr. Veilleux-Lepage’s research is the subject of an upcoming book, titled How Terror Evolves: The Emergence and Spread of Terrorist Techniques, to be published by Rowman and Littlefield International in October 2019.
Dr. Veilleux-Lepage currently serves as the Project manager for two Department of Defense funded Minerva Research Initiative analyzing online propaganda and visual media produced by extremist. The specific focus of these grants is to (1) create a living archive of the entirety of ISIS’ official multimedia content, including a searchable database of ISIS propaganda that includes news bulletins, photo-reports, videos, and documents; and (2) assess how children are recruited, radicalized, and deployed in violent extremist organizations in Iraq and Syria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Turkey, and Northern Ireland
Other research interests include the creation of online narratives and propaganda which fosters or normalizes terrorism; historical antecedents to terrorism; far-right extremism and the transnational links of far-right groups; ideological and technical diffusion, and the application of evolutionary theory to social sciences. Dr. Veilleux-Lepage has recently secured a Canadian Network for Research on Terrorism, Security, and Society Major Research Grant in collaboration with Dr. Barbara Perry (The University of Ontario Institute of Technology) to explores how gender and sexual politics are played out in everyday practice within the extreme right movement, both in terms of the framing of women by the movement, and women’s actions within the movement.
Dr. Veilleux-Lepage is the author of several referred articles and reports. He has appeared or been cited in national and international media as an expert in his field, including: BBC, CBC, CNN, International Business Times, ITV, La Presse, LBC, Metro News (Sweden), Radio-Canada, Sky News, The Global and Mail, The Guardian, and The National Post.
Prior to undertaking his doctoral studies, Dr. Veilleux-Lepage worked as a senior intelligence analyst specializing in international terrorism and emerging threats for the Government of Canada. He speaks fluent English and French.
- Publications
Book
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (Forthcoming 2019). How Terror Evolves: The Emergence and Spread of Terrorist Techniques. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. [Under Contract].
Journal Articles
Veilleux-Lepage, Y., & Archambault, E. (Forthcoming 2019). Mapping Transnational Extremist Networks: An Exploratory Study of the Soldiers of Odin’s Facebook Network Using Integrated Social Network Analysis Perspectives on Terrorism. [Accepted].
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (2016). Paradigmatic Shifts in Jihadism in Cyberspace: The Emerging Role of Unaffiliated Sympathizers in the Islamic State’s Social Media. Journal of Terrorism Research, 7(1), 36–51. DOI: 10.15664 /jtr.1183
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (2013). Implications of the sunk cost effect and regional proximity for public support for Canada’s mission in Kandahar. International Journal: Canada’s Journal of Global Policy Analysis, 68(2), 346–358. DOI:10.1177/0020702013492536
Chapters in Edited Volumes
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (Forthcoming 2019). A Typology of Islamic State’s Social Media Distribution Network. In Media and Mass Atrocity. In A. Thompson (Ed.), Media and Mass Atrocity: The Rwanda Genocide and Beyond. Toronto: CIGI Press. [In Press].
Archambault, E., & Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (Forthcoming 2019). Soldiers of Odin in Canada: Internal conflicts and transnational dimensions. In M. Mares & T. Bjørgo (Eds.), Vigilantism against Migrants and Minorities. London: Routledge. [In Press].
Veilleux-Lepage, Y., & Archambault, E. (Forthcoming 2019). Les Soldats d’Odin au Canada. In M. Geoffroy (Ed.), Violence et Extrémisme au Canada. Quebec: Presses de l’Université Laval [In Press].
Veilleux-Lepage, Y., & Fedorowicz, J. (2015). The Mau Mau Revolt in Kenya, 1952-56. In G. Fremont-Barnes (Ed.), A history of counterinsurgency (pp. 177–204). Santa Barbara, California: Praeger.
Policy Publications
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (2019, January 5). Is There A Radical Right Racism Problem in The Canadian Armed Forces? Rantt Media.
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (2018, October 11). When the Radical Right Shows Up. Fair Observer.
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (2018, August 26). The Extreme Right’s Legitimisation of Vehicle Ramming. Centre for Analysis of the Radical Right.
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (2017, March 29). “How and why vehicle ramming became the attack of choice for terrorists.” The Conversation
Veilleux-Lepage, Y. (2016, October 20). “The ISIS Brand.” Open Canada.
Yannick Veilleux-Lepage. (2015, July 8). IS’ social media strategy leverages convergence culture. VOX-Pol Network of Excellence.
Yannick Veilleux-Lepage. (2015, June 17). Why the Islamic State is Actually Brilliant at Social Media. Canadian Defence Association Institute.
Yannick Veilleux-Lepage. (2015, February 1st). Canadian and British Policy toward Returning Foreign Fighters: A Missed Opportunity for Countering the Islamic State’s Narrative? Research Institute for European and American Studies.