Are Foreign Fighters Likely to Become Domestic Terrorists?

AU School of Public Affairs Assistant Professor David Malet recently co-authored a paper examining how long it typically takes a returned foreign fighter to launch a domestic attack, and he found there is not a long-term risk as feared. Understanding what happens with returnees is important to know because it can affect policies on everything from countries admitting refugees to whether to permit ISIS fighters to leave the theater of conflict alive. Malet’s article, “Foreign Fighter Returnees: An Indefinite Threat?” recently published online in Terrorism & Political Violence, was co-authored with Rachel Hayes, a former graduate student at George Washington University, where Malet worked before joining the SPA faculty this fall. In their analysis of 230 jihadi returnees to Western countries, the researchers found the majority of attempted attacks occur within one year. Prison appears to play no role in lag times. Learn More: https://www.american.edu/spa/news/mal...