ABSTRACT
Scott Atran is an anthropologist who emphasizes direct observation of human behavior and the interpretation of the meanings that people give to their experiences. Since his speech to the UN, Scott Atran acquired new findings about the ways in which Muslim youths are joining ISIS that show some markedly different recruitment patterns. In psychological experiments on the frontlines in northern Iraq with Kurdish fighters of the Peshmerga and the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party), with captured ISIS fighters, and with Jabhat al-Nusra (al-Qaeda) fighters from Syria, people have a good initial indication of willingness to fight. Two principal factors interact to predict readiness to make costly sacrifices. The first factor is perception of relative commitment of one's own group versus those of the enemy to a sacred cause. The second factor in predicting willingness to fight is the degree of fusion with one's comrades.
