Preventing ISIL’s Rebirth Through A Greater Understanding of Radicalization: A Case Study of ISIL Foreign Fighters

Abstract

Terrorism kills on average 20,000 people every year. Although this is a small percentage of the world’s population, terrorism is a global security issue for every nation. Our report focuses on the rise, recruitment, and fall of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Declaring a Caliphate in 2014, ISIL was responsible for orchestrating attacks across the globe, and influencing hundreds of more lone wolf attacks. While ISIL is responsible for attacking other countries, the majority of deaths have been committed against fellow Muslims in the Levant. Even though the Islamic State has been defeated in the Levant, 41,490 foreign fighters are waiting to be repatriated to their original home country. Our report seeks to provide possible policy recommendations for dealing with imprisoned ISIL foreign fighters. They present a security threat to the US and the global community since recruits are being help in unsecure prisons in Syria and Iraq. For that reason, our policy recommendations are directed towards the United States government. To understand the causes of radicalization among international ISIL recruits, we looked at the conditions in the countries from which recruits came in the largest numbers, either in total or per capita of Sunni Muslims of fighting age 15-54 years old.