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331. The Foreign Fighters Problem, Recent Trends and Case Studies: Selected Essays

Author:
Michael Noonan
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI)
Abstract:
On the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have confronted third-party national combatants. Known as “foreign fighters,” these individuals have gained deadly skills and connections that can be exported or exploited to devastating effect in other locations. Over the past two decades, the foreign fighters phenomenon has grown after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979—to the ethnically cleansed fields of the Balkans to Chechnya and beyond. But this is not a new problem. This report is the second volume of findings from an important series of FPRI conferences on the so-called foreign fighter problem. These conferences have brought together leading experts in the field to examine and discuss this phenomenon from different ideational and disciplinary perspectives. While the first volume dealt primarily with functional areas of the phenomenon, this edition focuses primarily on the case studies of al Qaeda franchises or allied affiliates in Somalia, the Maghreb, Yemen, and Afghanistan/Pakistan. Today, the outcomes of the geopolitical revolution unfolding across North Africa and the Middle East are far from clear, the problems associated with al Qaeda and its affiliated movement are likely to breed havoc for the foreseeable future across the region. Furthermore, the veterans spawned by such conflicts undoubtedly will present problems for international security writ large, too. The cases and phenomenon analyzed here may well provide important lessons for both those interested in the regions under examination here, but also for others who examine international challenges far removed from the study of radical extremism of the al Qaeda variety.
Topic:
War, International Security, Insurgency, and Violent Extremism
Political Geography:
Arab Countries and North Africa

332. The New Terrorism: Understanding Yemen

Author:
David B. Carment
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Canadian Global Affairs Institute (CGAI)
Abstract:
Yemen is failing. Not only is it the Arab world’s poorest nation and challenged by mass protests, it is home to a resurgent al-Qaeda, a northern Shi’ite uprising and a revitalized southern secessionist movement. Yemen’s 1990 North-South unification is not working. Today, Yemen stands alongside Pakistan as one of the most important al-Qaeda strongholds in the world and many of that organization’s most dangerous operations have originated there. Judging from their actions, the extremists are both motivated and highly capable. In brief, the underlying sources of instability in Yemen are insoluble over the short run. The country is running out of oil and water. Its leader, Ali Abdullah Saleh, is proving incapable of holding the country together without force. Transitioning Yemen towards a more democratic system will only mean a hardening of tribal divisions and a deepening of the corruption, clientelism and cronyism that are rife throughout the country.
Topic:
Corruption, Violent Extremism, Al Qaeda, and Instability
Political Geography:
Middle East and Yemen

333. Why Do Islamist Groups Become Transnational and Violent?

Author:
Quinn Mecham
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
MIT Center for International Studies
Abstract:
Since al-Qaeda’s rise to prominence as the most commonly rec- ognized Islamist group worldwide, Islamist movements are increasingly viewed as violent, transnational organizations. Most Islamist groups, however, are actually non-violent and focused on the domestic audience of their home countries. They can become both violent and transnational as their domestic contexts and incentives change, however. The reasons that Islamist movements move from non-violence to violence, and from national to transna- tional strategies, have far-reaching implications for the way we deal with Islamist groups and are critical for policymakers to under- stand.
Topic:
Terrorism, Violent Extremism, Al Qaeda, transnationalism, and Militant Islam
Political Geography:
Global Focus