1. Foreign Fighters in Syria
- Author:
- Richard Barrett
- Publication Date:
- 06-2014
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- The Soufan Group
- Abstract:
- Over 12,000 fighters from at least 81 countries have joined the civil war in Syria, and the numbers continue to grow. Around 2,500 are from Western countries, including most members of the European Union, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. There are also several hundred from Russia. But the great majority are from the Arab World. Most are fighting with rebel groups, and increasingly with the most extreme among them; but many are also fighting with the Government, or with ethnic or faith communities that are trying to protect themselves from both sides. A lot are young, often teenagers, and a fair percentage of those arriving from non-Muslim majority countries are converts to Islam. These and others who share their faith commonly express their motivation as a religious obligation to protect fellow Muslims from attack. This sense of duty is captured by their loose use of the word 'jihad'.
- Topic:
- Security, Defense Policy, and International Security
- Political Geography:
- Russia, United States, Europe, Middle East, Canada, Arabia, Australia, Syria, and New Zealand