Democracy, Personal Freedom, and Islamic State Fighters
Moamen Gouda, Shimaa Hanafy, andMarcus Marktanner
Coles Research Symposium on Homeland Security Special Issue, SIFALL19-01, October 2019
Overview Never before in modern history have foreign fighters voluntarily gathered at the speed and scale they have in the territory of the Islamic State (IS). While some argue that many IS foreign fighters join in reaction to persistent, systemic local autocracy, discrimination, and oppression, a considerable number come from developed countries enjoying high levels of democracy and personal freedoms. Even after the demise of the Islamic State in 2017, IS foreign fighters remain a severe security risk globally; those who were involved in terrorist operations in the Middle East may return to their homeland to continue the fight. We examine the effect of democracy and personal freedoms on the flow of IS foreign fighters to and from Syria. While the effect of democracy appears insignificant, our cross- country regressions show that in countries with higher levels of personal freedoms, significantly more residents (per million population) joined IS in Syria and a significantly larger percentage share returned. This phenomenon illustrates that the threat to personal freedoms for all increases with the number of those who cannot take advantage of them.
28 | Coles Research Symposium
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