Channels, Fall 2017

Page 85 Channels • 2017 • Volume 2 • Number 1 terrorist groups willing and able to send their operatives into western nations? 22 Kis- Benedek posits that while terrorist groups are able to send operatives into western nations, they are not inclined to do so. He argues that sending operatives to Europe or the United States is a risky and expensive procedure that, 23 especially in the case of the Islamic State, limits the group’s ability to accomplish its primary objective, which is to control Iraq and Syria. 24 He also argues that ISIS does not need to export fighters to Europe because it actually imports converts from Europe to fight in Syria and Iraq. 25 For example, over a two- year period, the French government was tracking nearly a thousand French citizens who traveled to Syria to fight with ISIS. 26 Other European nations are seeing similar numbers of their citizens fighting with ISIS in the Middle East. 27 Additionally, there is no shortage of lone-wolf style European nationals who are willing to target their own countries either on behalf of or at the direction of the Islamic state. 28 For example, the attackers in the Paris attacks in 2015 were Belgian and French nationals. 29 However, the author does point out that while it might usually be prohibitively risky to send operatives into Europe from the Middle East, a situation like the migrant crisis in 2015 would change the incentives for terrorist groups. 30 During the height of the migrant crisis, 60 million people were forced from their homes, many thousands of these migrants and refugees streamed into Europe without undergoing any significant security checks or registration. 31 In this type of situation, the risks of sending in terrorist operatives decrease significantly. If the Islamic State is intent on attacking Europe, as the group has proclaimed and adequately demonstrated, 32 this would have been an ideal opportunity to send in operatives. An additional consideration is whether the modern terrorist groups’ use of social media limits their need to physically enter foreign nations for recruitment and radicalization purposes. The Islamic State’s extensive use of social media as a propaganda tool may limit their need to use existing social networks among migrant communities as a stepping stone into new regions. In fact, ISIS recruits many followers from western nations who have little connection to ISIS other than through ISIS propaganda on the internet. 33 Therefore, ISIS— and similar terrorist groups—may not be inclined to send operatives into foreign nations and use the internet instead. While terrorist groups may use social media effectively, it seems unlikely that groups engaging in an activity—terrorism—that requires high levels of trust and reliability 22 Kis-Benedek, “Illegal Immigration and Terrorism,” 455. 23 Ibid 456. 24 Ibid, 460. 25 Ibid, 461. 26 Ibid, 461. 27 Ibid, 461. 28 Ibid, 456. 29 Ibid, 456. 30 Ibid, 463. 31 Ibid, 463. 32 Ibid, 461. 33 Ibid, 456.