A Study on Motivations and Objectives of Leaders and Simple Fighters in ISIS, Difference or Similarity

The emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was something no one could have predicted prior to the 2003 US Invasion of Iraq. A combination of skilled former Iraqi military personnel, eschatologically savvy Islamic clerics, and an army of domestic and foreign fighters have created the ultimate terrorist pseudo-state. By some estimates, over 25,000 foreigners had gone to fight in Syria between the start of the civil war in 2011 and September 2016. This compares with the far lower numbers that participated in conflicts such as the Afghan war (1979-1989), the war in Bosnia (1992-1995), or the war in Iraq (2003-2006). Not only is the number of foreign terrorist fighters far larger and the rate of flow far faster than in these previous wars, but so too is the range of the countries from which they come. Since ISIS announced in June 2014 that it had re-established the caliphate, the group has mounted a concerted campaign aimed at expanding its presence and influence beyond Syria and Iraq. It has declared the formation of wilayats (provinces) in Afghanistan/Pakistan, Algeria, the Caucasus region of Russia, Egypt, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and West Africa, while carrying out attacks in several other countries in the surrounding regions. The group has also appealed to Muslims from across the globe to join its cause, with thousands of foreign fighters answering this call to arms.