St Andrews Research Repository

St Andrews University Home
View Item 
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • International Relations (School of)
  • International Relations
  • International Relations Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • International Relations (School of)
  • International Relations
  • International Relations Theses
  • View Item
  •   St Andrews Research Repository
  • International Relations (School of)
  • International Relations
  • International Relations Theses
  • View Item
  • Login
JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

Forged in the crucible of defensive jihad : Arab foreign fighters and their trajectory to involvement in Islamist terrorism

Thumbnail
View/Open
RogerWarrenPhDThesis.pdf (2.519Mb)
Date
18/07/2017
Author
Warren, Roger Patrick
Supervisor
Lehr, Peter
McConaghy, Kieran
Marsden, Sarah V.
Keywords
Arab foreign fighters
Radicalisation
Political Islam
Lucifer Effect
Defensive jihad
Charismatic authority and obedience
Ideological indoctrination
Metadata
Show full item record
Abstract
This thesis challenges the conventional wisdom that tends to conflate Arab foreign fighters with Islamist terrorists, and ‘martyrdom operations’ with ‘suicide attacks.’ Overlaps notwithstanding, it aims to draw distinctions between Arab foreign fighters engaged in defensive jihad defending co-religionists against a military foe, and Islamist terrorists engaged in terrorism that indiscriminately targets civilians and non-combatants. Critically, while disaggregating the two transnational cohorts, this thesis also illuminates the nexus between them. It draws on a thesis dataset of 3,010 Arab foreign fighters compiled using biographies, martyrdom eulogies, and postings on ‘jihadi’ websites, in both English and Arabic. This dataset is then used to support three case studies involving the defensive jihads in 1980s Afghanistan, Iraq (post 2003), and Syria (post 2011). It leverages a theoretical framework based on the concept of radicalisation and the language of political Islam, whilst concurrently drawing on theories from psychology and historical military examples of combat, germane to defensive jihad and Islamist terrorism. The thesis concludes that Arab foreign fighters involved in defensive jihad employ martyrdom operations against military targets, through tactical necessity. Conversely, Islamist terrorists employ suicide attacks against civilians and non-combatants, through ideological necessity. The trajectory between the two transnational mobilisations appears to be broadly underpinned by facets of the Lucifer Effect – the situational factors encountered whilst participating in defensive jihad, including but not limited to, the experience of close combat in a war zone; being subjected to ideological indoctrination; and being exposed to charismatic authority and obedience to it. This suggests that subsequent involvement in Islamist terrorism by some Arab foreign fighters is primarily forged in the crucible of defensive jihad. Such findings should result in the crafting of more individualised de-radicalisation and rehabilitation programmes for returning foreign fighters, in both the West and the Arab world.
Type
Thesis, PhD Doctor of Philosophy
Collections
  • International Relations Theses
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/11567

Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.

Advanced Search

Browse

All of RepositoryCommunities & CollectionsBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunderThis CollectionBy Issue DateNamesTitlesSubjectsClassificationTypeFunder

My Account

Login

Open Access

To find out how you can benefit from open access to research, see our library web pages and Open Access blog. For open access help contact: openaccess@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Accessibility

Read our Accessibility statement.

How to submit research papers

The full text of research papers can be submitted to the repository via Pure, the University's research information system. For help see our guide: How to deposit in Pure.

Electronic thesis deposit

Help with deposit.

Repository help

For repository help contact: Digital-Repository@st-andrews.ac.uk.

Give Feedback

Cookie policy

This site may use cookies. Please see Terms and Conditions.

Usage statistics

COUNTER-compliant statistics on downloads from the repository are available from the IRUS-UK Service. Contact us for information.

© University of St Andrews Library

University of St Andrews is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013532.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter