revistaieee7

JOURNAL OF THE SPANISH INSTITUTE FOR
STRATEGIC STUDIES
Alberto Caballero Díez
Professor of Public International Law. Autonomous University of Madrid.
E-mail: albertocaballerodiez@gmail.com
EUROPEAN FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN
SYRIA AND IRAQ: ARE THEY LIKELY
TO ATTACK UPON RETURN?
Abstract
The study examined the likelihood whereby EU citizens who were or
still are fighting in the Syrian civil conflict or the Iraqi insurgency could
perpetrate an attack upon return. A comparative analysis was conducted
among the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Belgium in
terms of capability, intent and opportunity of their foreign fighters and
returnees to pose a threat. It is argued that independent attacks by returnees
are more likely to happen in France than in the UK, Germany
and Belgium due to the fact that French extremist networks appear to
have distanced themselves from Syria-related issues in order to avoid
being banned and go undetected by the authorities.
KeyWords
Foreign fighter, returning fighter, returnee, plotter, jihadist, terrorist
plot, independent attack, Daesh.
http://revista.ieee.es/index.php/ieee
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