A UN report (60 pgs) co-authored by Richard Barrett (ex-SIS) and Professor Hamed el-Said (Jordanian academic & UK citizen). Unusual as they interviewed forty-three fighters, most of them in jail in seven nations. A good literature review (ICSR, Soufan Group and others) and more within.
Later:The 43 FTFs interviewed for the project represent 12 different nationalities. Of these, 33 (77 per cent) reached Syria, while ten (23 per cent) were either intercepted by their own authorities before departing their country of residence, or stopped by the authorities of a transit country while en route to Syria.Link:http://www.un.org/en/counterterroris...l_20170727.pdfFTFs have many different motives for joining armed groups, but the idea of establishing a Caliphate does not appear to be prominent among them.
The main thread is:Today's Wild Geese: Foreign Fighters in the GWOT
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