ISIS is redeploying its leaders in Europe with the greatest capacity for attracting new recruits. Although the recent arrest in Pinto (Madrid) of Aziz Zaghnane, a Moroccan marketing director and headhunter, accused of being a talent-spotter for ISIS and of organising a Jihadist recruitment cell, may indicate a change, at least in the elite. They do not come from the middle classes, like the founders of al-Qaeda вЂ“made up mainly of engineersвЂ“. They feel neither Arab вЂ“they speak the language poorlyвЂ“ nor from the country of their parents or grandparents, nor the country where they live. On the opposing side, only the Kurds, who have a conviction of their вЂKurdishnessвЂ™, and the much less numerous Yazidis, have a comparable force. The ISIS fighters and terrorists have a вЂspiritual forceвЂ™ (which is not the same as a religious force) that their enemies lack, and it drives them to make sacrifices. As one of them says, вЂBetter an end to the suffering inflicted by the status quo, with the hope of something better, whatever suffering and horror it takesвЂ™, which is an apocalyptic view to say the least. The indigenous ISIS fighters are significantly less brave than the foreigners, who exhibit more passion. The hubs of radicalisation vary: in some cases districts and prisons, as in France, or universities in the case of the UK. According to the French Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, it accounts for 0.03% of the Muslim population in France (0.14% in Belgium). This sounds like a lot in absolute terms, but in relative terms it is not. Some 5,000-6,000 young people (others speak of 3,000) have left Europe, predominantly from France, Germany and the UK. A starting point, however, is that there is no single cause that can account for this complex phenomenon.

The summary that follows is taken from a range of sources, but principally from the research and writings of Scott Atran, an anthropologist who has carried out a great deal of fieldwork in the combat zone, has testified to the US Congress, is Research Director at the CNRS in Paris and Professor at the University of Oxford, and was recently in Madrid and Nafeed Hamid, a cognitive science researcher and specialist in radicalisation and terrorism, who has co-written various highly interesting articles with Atran.

The explanation frequently comes more from anthropology and psychology than security experts, who are increasingly incorporating such disciplines. Why do young European-Arab Muslims, and converts, go to join the Islamic State (ISIS or Daesh) to fight or sacrifice themselves, in Syria, Iraq and Libya, among other places, and, when they return, in Europe itself? It is essential to find out. Source: The Soufan Group, 20 via European Parliament Research Service. Estimated number of foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, by country of origin in 2015.

Join isis