Radicalisation of 'foreign fighters'

Abstract

The foreign fighter phenomenon attracted the attention of only a handful of scholars prior to 2012. The number of publications, however, surged when thousands of people from across the globe started to travel to the conflict in Syria and, later, Iraq, to join jihadist groups. Scholars attempted to understand why people would take up arms in distant conflicts. This chapter will discuss the various approaches that have emerged to studying the foreign fighter phenomenon. After briefly outlining some key definitional elements and questions, the chapter will look at attempts to make sense of the process of radicalising foreign fighters. In order to understand this process, scholars frequently discuss two questions: who are they, and why do they go? This chapter will add a third, less often mentioned component of radicalisation: the ‘how’-question, by discussing processes of recruitment and mobilisation. While discussing these three core components, special attention will be paid to the various analytical lenses that scholars have used. Finally, the chapter will end by taking stock of where the academic community stands today.