Transnational Volunteers Against ISIS Shashi Jayakumar ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The creation and maintenance of a database like the one underpinning the research laid out in this article is inevitably a continuing and collaborative enterprise. The author’s thanks go to Cameron Sumpter, Juhi Ahuja, Cheong Wan Rong, Shreya Bhandari, Navin Sivakumar and (especially) Alexandra Bissoondath. In addition the author’s thanks go to other scholars and experts working on these issues who have generously shared their knowledge. All errors in the article are the author’s own. CONTACT DETAILS For questions, queries and additional copies of this report, please contact: ICSR King’s College London Strand London WC2R 2LS United Kingdom T. +44 20 7848 2098 E.
[email protected] Twitter: @icsr_centre Like all other ICSR publications, this report can be downloaded free of charge from the ICSR website at www.icsr.info. © ICSR 2019 Table of Contents Introduction 3 The Issue of FTFs 5 Database: Methodology and Criteria 5 Further Exclusions 7 Existing Studies 9 The Individuals 10 Social Media Activity: Observations 14 Motivations and Implications 17 Motivations 17 Ideology 18 Moral Outrage / Wanting To Do Good / Search For Meaning / Kurdish Solidarity 22 Adventure 25 Religious Belief 26 Military Service 27 Misfits and Others 30 Push and Pull 31 Overall: Observations and Further Work 33 Radicalisation (?) 33 Returnees 36 Legal Regimes 37 1 Transnational Volunteers Against ISIS 2 Transnational Volunteers Against ISIS Introduction he age of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has seen a great deal of ink spilt on the “Foreign Terrorist Fighter” (FTF) Tphenomenon. Researchers have placed particular emphasis on understanding those FTFs from Western countries joining ISIS and other jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, such as Jabhat al‑Nusra (now Jabhat Fatah al‑Sham).