Small Wars Journal

Returning Foreign Fighters

A Policy Response to Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration

A Policy Response to Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration

Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs) or Foreign Extremist Fighters (FEFs) are a significant policy concern as foreign extremists return to their home states from jihadi battlefields abroad. This recently released Strategic Studies Institute monograph, A Policy Response to Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration by SWJ-El Centro Senior Fellow Robert J. Bunker and SWJ-El Centro Associate Alma Keshavarz analyzes and provides policy response options for US national security and Army planners concerning the potential for post-territorial caliphate battlefield migration by the sizable contingent of battle-hardened Islamic State foreign fighters situated within various remaining enclaves that remain in Syria and Iraq.

IS FEFs

Source: Robert J. Bunker and Alma Kesharvarz, A Policy Response to Islamic State Extremist Fighter Battlefield Migration. Carlisle Barracks: Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College. August 2020.

 

 

ZFTWARNING Mon, 08/31/2020 - 8:38pm

Transparency Needed: The Prosecution, Detention, and Deradicalization of Foreign Fighters

Tue, 10/01/2019 - 2:55am
The military defeat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria gave rise to a flurry of speculation regarding the possible threats posed by fighters returning to their countries of origin. Journalists and academics have since uncovered considerable information on the backgrounds of these ISIS fighters and speculated on the ways they could wreak havoc within their home countries. Yet one question remains largely unanswered: What exactly are Arab states doing with fighters who return home?

About the Author(s)

Subscribe to Returning Foreign Fighters