Broadened Perspective On Foreign (Terrorist) Fighters In Syrian Civil War
Abstract
The issue of foreign (terrorist) fighters is hardly a new phenomenon because the inclusion of foreigners into civil conflicts has been one of the substantial features of armed conflicts in the history. However, the current wave presents new challenges because it is larger, more global, and more diverse. This paper aims to elaborate the issue by firstly discussing the history of the phenomena and conceptual debates. Then, the paper elaborates profiles of foreign (terrorist) fighters in Syria with a broader perspective than mainstream literature. In its analysis, this paper relies on the secondary and some primary sources. By doing so, this paper argues that although most of studies focus on religious foreign (terrorist) fighters, there are different kinds of foreign (terrorist) fighters in Syria in different manifestations of the phenomena according to their radicalization sources like ethnic, separatist, ideological and religious.
Keywords
References
- AFP (2015), “Iraq, Iran fighters deployed to defend Damascus: security source”, Agence France Presse, 3 June, https://news.yahoo.com/iraq-iran-fighters-deployed-defend-damascus-security-source-143253360.html (Accessed on 10 December 2019).
- Al Jazeera (2015), “Suriye’deki ithal Şii savaşçılar”, Al Jazeera, 22 July, www.aljazeera.com.tr/haber/suriyedeki-ithal-sii-savascilar (Accessed on 10 December 2019).
- Barfi, Barak (2016), Ascent of the PYD and the SDF, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Research Notes, No. 32, April.
- Barrett, Richard (2014), Foreign Fighters in Syria, The Soufan Group, June.
- Barrett, Richard (2017), Beyond the Caliphate: Foreign Fighters and the Threat of Returnees, The Soufan Center, October.
- Conci, Giulia (2015), The Phenomenon of Foreign Fighters: The Case of the Islamic State in the Syrian and Iraqi Conflict, Unpublished Master Thesis, University of Libera.
- CTED (2018), The Challenge of Returning and Relocating Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Research Perspectives, United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), Trend Reports.
- Hatahet, Sinan; Cengiz, Mehmet Emin and Rashid, Bedir Mulla (2019), The Phenomenon of YPG Transnational Fighters in Syria, Al-Sharq Forum, Paper Series, April.
- Hegghammer, Thomas (2010/11), “The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters: Islam and the Globalization of Jihad”, Quarterly Journal: International Security, 35 (3), Winter, pp. 53-94.
- Hegghammer, Thomas (2013), “Should I Stay or Should I Go? Explaining Variation in Westers Jıhadists’ Choice between Domestic and Foreign Fighting” American Political Science Review, 107 (1) pp. 1-15.