ABSTRACT
YES: Returning foreign fighters are future terrorists
Edwin Bakker and Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn
This section of the chapter argues that foreign fighters are future terrorists. While acknowledging that not all foreign fighters throughout history have been involved in terrorism, the authors argue that the link between the war in Afghanistan and the attacks on 9/11 connected foreign fighting with terrorism. They furthermore show empirical examples of foreign fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnia or Somalia returning home and being involved in terrorist activities, and point out ideological references for the connection between the two. Lastly, the authors suggest that in the eyes of the law and the perspectives of governments, today’s foreign fighters are considered a serious terrorist threat.
NO: Anarchist terrorists returning home were not radicalised abroad
Richard Bach Jensen and Felix Lippe
This section formulates the view, by drawing on rich historical material on the Italian anarchists, as well as contemporary jihadis, that foreign fighters rarely pose a threat when they return home. The authors show that the radicalisation of foreign fighters most often occurs at home and not all foreign fighters become terrorists. They go on to argue that it is home-grown conditions that lead to terrorism abroad and not the presence of foreign fighters, and that most contemporary foreign fighters return disillusioned. The section cautions against an exaggerated focus of counterterrorism policy on foreign fighters.
