Is governmental and societal discrimination against Muslim minorities behind foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq?
| Published date | 01 March 2022 |
| Author | Jonathan Fox,Meirav Mishali-Ram |
| Date | 01 March 2022 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022343320982652 |
| Subject Matter | Regular Articles |
Is governmental and societal discrimination
against Muslim minorities behind foreign
fighters in Syria and Iraq?
Meirav Mishali-Ram & Jonathan Fox
Department of Political Studies, Bar Ilan University
Abstract
This study asks whether governmental and societal discrimination against Muslim minorities explains the outflow
of foreign fighters from non-Muslim-majority countries to Syria and Iraq. We use data from the ICSR, Soufan
Group, Pokalova (2018), and RASM datasets to examine the connection between discrimination directed at
Muslim minorities and the number of foreign fighters originating in a country. We apply grievance-based
theory to examine whether minority-specific objective discrimination is behind the phenomenon. We find little
evidence that discrimination increases the outflow of foreign fighters, but this outflow is higher from wealthier
countries. The findings indicate that if grievances are a motivation for individuals to become foreign fighters,
they are not connected to objective discrimination. This implies that at least some of the grievances relate to
personal circumstances or that immigrant minorities are more likely to perceive inequality in wealthier
countries.
Keywords
discrimination, foreign fighters, grievances, Muslim minorities
Introduction
The phenomenon of fighters leaving their homes and
joining foreign wars is attracting increasing attention,
especially considering the influx of fighters who have
voluntarily joined the current wars in Syria and Iraq.
Throughout history foreign fighters have joined various
conflicts around the globe. In recent years, global jihad
organizations such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State
have attracted volunteers from across the Muslim
world, calling them to fight those perceived as enemies
of Islam. Indeed, the foreign fighters joining the war
arenas in Syria and Iraq originate in more than 100
countries and their numbers already exceeded the rates
of foreign fighters in any other war in the past 20 years
(Crawford & Koran, 2015). Recent scholarship is
beginning to address various aspects of this widening
phenomenon, including its causes and characteristics
and the effects of foreign fighters, relating to the dan-
gers they pose both in the combat zones and in their
countries of origin on their return home.
Although most Muslim foreign fighters originate in
Muslim-majority countries, this literature pays special
attention to fighters from Western countries. Many ask
why people choose to leave their homes in countries
where personal welfare and security are among the high-
est in the world, and travel to areas afflicted by human
suffering and war. One of the main explanations offered
by empirical studies on foreign fighters’ motivations is
a sectarian (Sunni) ideology that combines norms
of Muslim solidarity and hostility toward the West
(Hegghammer, 2013b: 4). Another prevalent explanation
of the causes of foreign fighting is sectarian grievances
of Muslims who feel that their group experiences dis-
crimination which causes suffering, depression, and
alienation in their home countries (Coolsaet, 2015).
Recent studies also link political and economic grie-
vances with the motivation to become foreign fighters
Corresponding author:
meirav.mishali@biu.ac.il
Journal of Peace Research
2022, Vol. 59(2) 122–135
ªThe Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/0022343320982652
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