Fatal Attraction: Western Muslimas and ISIS
More than 550 Muslim women from Western countries have joined ISIS and moved to its proclaimed ‘Caliphate’ in Syria and Iraq. No extremist group has been able to attract so many female Western recruits so far, and their number continues to grow. This article is intended to explain the reasons behind such unprecedented success, the motivation of Western Muslimas to join ISIS and their roles in the ‘Islamic State’. It also compares living conditions under ISIS’ rule with the expectation induced by ISIS’ recruiters in women from the West who had shown an interest to make hijra and join ISIS. Understanding these factors is vital to figure out how to stop this trend and to assess the security threat posed to the West by possible female returnees, or radicalized sympathizers who are unable to leave their countries of residence.
Tweeting the Jihad: Social Media Networks of Western Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq
Social media have played an essential role in the jihadists’ operational strategy in Syria and Iraq, and beyond. Twitter in particular has been used to drive communications over other social media platforms. Twitter streams from the insurgency may give the illusion of authenticity, as a spontaneous activity of a generation accustomed to using their cell phones for self-publication, but to what extent is access and content controlled? Over a period of three months, from January through March 2014, information was collected from the Twitter accounts of 59 Western-origin fighters known to be in Syria. Using a snowball method, the 59 starter accounts were used to collect data about the most popular accounts in the network-at-large. Social network analysis on the data collated about Twitter users in the Western Syria-based fighters points to the controlling role played by feeder accounts belonging to terrorist organizations in the insurgency zone, and by Europe-based organizational accounts associated with the banned British organization, Al Muhajiroun, and in particular the London-based preacher, Anjem Choudary.
Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network
Notes from the Author Prologue: 'In the Land of Ice Cream' Chapter 1: The Afghan Crucible Chapter 2: Jihad comes to Bosnia Chapter 3: The Role of the Islamic Charities Chapter 4: The Battle Begins Chapter 5: Confrontation with the Croats Chapter 6: Attention Turns Westward Chapter 7: The Final Campaign Chapter 8: A Post-Dayton Wave of Terror Chapter 9: Blowback - The North African Sleeper Cell Network Chapter 10: Post-9/11 Implications for Bosnia Epilogue: Lessons of the 'Afghano-Bosniaks'