Media advisory: Expert discusses ISIS, terrorist recruitment, U.S. response


Thu, 10/09/2014

author

George Diepenbrock

LAWRENCE — U.S. Department of Justice officials said in national news reports that American law enforcement officials must focus their resources on Americans traveling abroad who might become radicalized and return to conduct terrorist attacks at home on behalf of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

FBI Director James Comey recently said the FBI estimates about a dozen Americans are fighting in Syria's civil war on behalf of ISIS. The U.S. military and allies have conducted air strikes in the effort to weaken ISIS strongholds in Iraq and the Middle East.

Don Haider-Markel, professor and chair of the University of Kansas Department of Political Science, is available to speak about issues surrounding Americans and other Western nation citizens joining terrorist groups. Haider-Markel's research includes terrorism, public policy and American politics.

Q: What factors identified through research typically drive people from the United States or other democratic countries to join either ISIS or terrorist groups, like al-Qaida?

Haider-Markel: There is not a known profile; people have been recruited and have gone on their own. Some are foreign-born, some not, and some are only recent converts to Islam. The traditional profile would be a male under the age of 30, typically from a middle-class background. ISIS is unusual in that its leaders are also trying to recruit young women to marry ISIS members. Women are not good candidates as fighters for most extremist movements. The common characteristic among those men who decide to go is that they come to see Islam under threat and that what happens to Muslims elsewhere has a direct meaning and an impact on their lives. It’s called shared fate. We don’t know much about how a person gets to this state of mind.

Q: Do you think there are more Americans now joining terrorist groups like ISIS than, say, around 9/11? Or are these cases just getting more publicity?

Haider-Markel: There are certainly more people from Western countries, and perhaps a bit more from the U.S., than 10 years ago. However, not all of these people have a hatred of the West; some have gone just to engage in jihad against the Syrian government. The pattern now is more like the waves of people that went to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan following the 1979 invasion. Some are even going to fight with the PKK (Kurds); there is a case from Wisconsin of a former U.S. Army member.

Q: In today’s New York Times, the Justice Department mentioned stepping up scrutiny on Americans traveling abroad? Could this be an effective strategy? Is it too late?

Haider-Markel: It will be somewhat effective in deterring some. Actually catching them will usually entail someone turning them in, like in the Illinois case. Parents should be especially likely to do this in order to protect their kids. We are likely to be better at following them upon return than when they are going over.

Q: What is the balance that leaders must consider in a free democratic society in monitoring citizens and trying to keep them from joining a group that actively wants to harm America?

Haider-Markel: That's a question for the ages. Leaders have to allow some risk otherwise the cost to liberty is too high. This will always be a small, even if not insignificant, group of people. There is certainly a real danger, but we face the same danger from lone-wolf types like the Boston bombers. The vast majority will only be able to pull off small-scale attacks even with decent training. There is a greater danger from events such as workplace shootings than there is from extremists.

To arrange an interview with Haider-Markel, contact George Diepenbrock at gdiepenbrock@ku.edu or 785-864-8853.

Thu, 10/09/2014

author

George Diepenbrock

Media Contacts

George Diepenbrock

KU News Service

785-864-8853