Western Foreign Fighters in Syria and Iraq: What Do We Really Know about Why They Went?

The paper presents a concise and critical overview of the findings and speculation about the motivations of Western (i.e., European, North American, and Australian) jihadist foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq, as presented in dozens of reports and academic publications since 2012. The analysis will focus on: (a) the relative role and significance of socio-economic, social psychological, and ideological factors in accounting for the unprecedented migration of fighters to this conflict; (b) the methodological limitations of the data and research; and (c) the contributions of this research to broader theorizing about the process of radicalization leading to violence.