Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019

Utilizing social media profiles, court documents and media reports, this article analyzes the Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria between 2012 and 2019. It is found that the Malaysian foreign fighter phenomenon is primarily driven by charismatic personalities, i.e. influential figur...

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Main Authors: Dass, Rueben, Singh, Jasminder
Other Authors: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161687
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1616872023-03-05T17:23:47Z Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019 Dass, Rueben Singh, Jasminder S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research Humanities::History Foreign Terrorist Fighters Islamic State Utilizing social media profiles, court documents and media reports, this article analyzes the Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria between 2012 and 2019. It is found that the Malaysian foreign fighter phenomenon is primarily driven by charismatic personalities, i.e. influential figures who were able to attract individuals into the Middle East. The attempted movement of fighters into Iraq and Syria can be divided into three phases corresponding to three personalities; the first led by Al Qaeda linked Yazid Sufaat, the second by Ajnad al-Sham linked Lotfi Ariffin and the third by Islamic State (IS) linked Muhammad Wanndy Mohd Jedi. Contrary to popular belief, the first wave of Malaysian militants had joined Syrian-based rebel groups like Ajnad al-Sham instead of IS with the shift occurring after Lotfi Ariffin’s death in September 2014. The three phases also highlight the shift in recruitment strategy from physical recruitment to the purely online sphere. A radicalization driver model of Malaysian fighters is proposed and it is argued that the two main factors that drove Malaysian fighters into the conflict zones are i) External factors: charismatic personalities; romanticization of jihad; moral factors and ideological factors; and ii) Internal factors: discontent with the government. Submitted/Accepted version 2022-09-14T08:52:09Z 2022-09-14T08:52:09Z 2022 Journal Article Dass, R. & Singh, J. (2022). Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019. Terrorism and Political Violence, 1-34. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2022.2059352 0954-6553 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161687 10.1080/09546553.2022.2059352 2-s2.0-85130946645 1 34 en Terrorism and Political Violence © 2022 Taylor & Francis. All rights reserved. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Terrorism and Political Violence on 20 May 2022, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/09546553.2022.2059352 application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Humanities::History
Foreign Terrorist Fighters
Islamic State
spellingShingle Humanities::History
Foreign Terrorist Fighters
Islamic State
Dass, Rueben
Singh, Jasminder
Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019
description Utilizing social media profiles, court documents and media reports, this article analyzes the Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria between 2012 and 2019. It is found that the Malaysian foreign fighter phenomenon is primarily driven by charismatic personalities, i.e. influential figures who were able to attract individuals into the Middle East. The attempted movement of fighters into Iraq and Syria can be divided into three phases corresponding to three personalities; the first led by Al Qaeda linked Yazid Sufaat, the second by Ajnad al-Sham linked Lotfi Ariffin and the third by Islamic State (IS) linked Muhammad Wanndy Mohd Jedi. Contrary to popular belief, the first wave of Malaysian militants had joined Syrian-based rebel groups like Ajnad al-Sham instead of IS with the shift occurring after Lotfi Ariffin’s death in September 2014. The three phases also highlight the shift in recruitment strategy from physical recruitment to the purely online sphere. A radicalization driver model of Malaysian fighters is proposed and it is argued that the two main factors that drove Malaysian fighters into the conflict zones are i) External factors: charismatic personalities; romanticization of jihad; moral factors and ideological factors; and ii) Internal factors: discontent with the government.
author2 S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
author_facet S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
Dass, Rueben
Singh, Jasminder
format Article
author Dass, Rueben
Singh, Jasminder
author_sort Dass, Rueben
title Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019
title_short Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019
title_full Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019
title_fullStr Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019
title_full_unstemmed Pathways to the caliphate: mapping Malaysian foreign fighter networks in Iraq and Syria from 2012-2019
title_sort pathways to the caliphate: mapping malaysian foreign fighter networks in iraq and syria from 2012-2019
publishDate 2022
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/161687
_version_ 1759854959501770752