Foreign Fighters: Trends, Trajectories & Conflict ZonesPolicy & Research Forum Event Summary
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On Friday, October 1, 2010, The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) hosted a Policy & Research Forum examining the foreign fighter phenomenon and the threat it poses to Western nations. The event served as the public release of a new HSPI report on "Foreign Fighters: Trends, Trajectories & Conflict Zones"; and featured the report’s authors: Frank J. Cilluffo, Director of HSPI; Magnus Ranstorp, HSPI Senior Fellow and Research Director of the Swedish National Defense College’s Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies; and Jeffrey B. Cozzens, President of White Mountain Research. HSPI Steering Committee Member Bruce Hoffman, Director, Center for Peace and Security Studies at Georgetown University, offered introductory remarks and moderated the roundtable discussion that followed the authors’ opening remarks.
Hoffman, who recently co-authored a report with Peter Bergen entitled “Assessing the Terrorist Threat,” opened the event arguing: “terrorist organizations still matter, because they are the only entities that can put together a multinational plot and bring together a variety of different terrorist groups.” To illustrate his point, Hoffman cited the case of David Headley – the American who pled guilty to providing reconnaissance support to Lashkar-e-Taiba for their 2009 Mumbai, India terror attacks. Hoffman said that Headley is but one example, along with Faisal Shahzad and others, of an increasing proclivity among some individuals living in Western countries to travel overseas to engage in terrorism and then return to residence in the West.
Cilluffo highlighted the important role played by bridge figures – individuals like Anwar al-Aulaqi and Omar Hammami, who promote and give salience to jihadi messages within Western societies. Cilluffo stated that bridge figures act as charismatic leaders who radicalize and recruit Americans, Germans, and others to strike against Western interests. In response to those who argue that the threat posed by foreign fighters is relatively small, Cilluffo warned that: “The challenge posed by foreign fighters goes beyond their ability to affect conflicts in far-flung regions like Somalia or Yemen. The real threat is the potential boon they provide for radicalization and recruitment; they have propaganda value and facilitate fundraising on the part of terrorists. Most importantly, the threat is not primarily one that occurs ‘over there.’ This threat poses a direct danger to us here at home. A fact demonstrated by individuals like Najibullah Zazi, who travelled overseas to fight, but was trained and returned home in a plot to attack the New York subway system.” Cilluffo went on to cite the cases of Bryant Neal Vinas and Daniel Boyd as but two more examples of the dangers posed by returnee foreign fighters.
In his remarks, Cozzens explained why foreign fighters have developed as the new face of terrorism. Like Hoffman, Cozzens noted that terror organizations cooperate in the sharing of information and knowledge. Cozzens highlighted the fact that the pressure placed on terror organizations by Western security services have forced terrorists to focus on smaller, perhaps more numerous, plots in which they increasingly depend on help from those living in the West – in essence making us “a victim of our own success.” Cozzens went on to state that Western authorities prevent some potential recruits from traveling to conflict zones. Such individuals are diverted from journeying overseas and end up fighting “in London or New York City or Washington or L.A., owing to the serious screws we’ve put to the global jihadi trend in places like the FATA region of Pakistan,” said Cozzens.
Ranstorp began his remarks by stating that no country is immune from the threat posed by foreign fighters and that the United States and Europe must work together to effectively combat this danger. Ranstorp argued that the US and Europe must work to develop a clearer picture of the current threat and monitor the travel of suspected terrorists. To evidence his point, Ranstorp referenced growing cases in which Western residents travel to Africa or Pakistan to train with terrorist organizations. Ranstorp cited recent comments by Jonathan Evans, Director General of Britain’s Security Service (MI5), that it is only a matter of time before Europe suffers an attack at the hands of foreign fighters. “We need to increase our capabilities in regard to early detection; otherwise what Jonathan Evans has predicted will become a reality.”
During the question and answer period, HSPI Senior Fellow Suzanne Spaulding asked about the role of the internet and whether or not governments ought to act to take down jihadi websites. The panelists responded that the question had grown in complexity over the years. Cozzens said that so few plots develop online, that it would be futile to target such sites. Ranstorp, however, stated that monitoring the websites might provide some intelligence value to Western authorities. Cilluffo disagreed. Citing the role they play as a propaganda tool and in radicalization, Cilluffo argued that it was time to push such material to the margins and remove jihadi videos from mainstream platforms like Google and YouTube. Cilluffo put forward the idea that jihadi chatrooms and websites ought to be dealt with in a manner similar to the way in which authorities address child pornography websites.
Summary prepared by Joseph R. Clark
Introductory Remarks and Moderator:
Bruce Hoffman, Director, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University; Steering Committee Member, Homeland Security Policy Institute
Featured Speakers:
Frank J. Cilluffo, Director, Homeland Security Policy Institute
Jeffrey B. Cozzens, President, White Mountain Research
Magnus Ranstorp, Research Director, Center for Asymmetric Threat Studies, Swedish National Defence College; Senior Fellow, Homeland Security Policy Institute
HSPI's Policy & Research Forum Series spotlights cutting-edge security policy solutions and innovative research. The Series is designed to provide thought leaders in the United States and abroad with a uniquely constructive venue in which to discuss current and future security issues and challenges.
The Swedish National Defence College (SNDC) trains and educates military and civilian personnel in leading positions, both nationally and internationally as part of the contribution to the management of crisis situations and security issues. Its task is to contribute toward national and international security through research and development.
