The involvement of Western Balkan terrorist-fighters in armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq

Udział zagranicznych bojowników-terrorystów z Bałkanów Zachodnich w konfliktach zbrojnych w Syrii i Iraku

Abstract: Głównym celem niniejszego artykułu jest wyjaśnienie znaczenia i konsekwencji udziału zagra-nicznych bojowników z państw Bałkanów Zachodnich (WB6) w konfliktach zbrojnych w Syrii i Iraku. W pierwszej części zagadnienie zagranicznych bojowników zostało przedstawione w ujęciu historycznym. Autor skupił się na przykładach radzieckiej inwazji na Afganistan oraz konfliktu etniczno-religijnego w Bośni i Herce-gowinie. W drugiej części tekstu omówione zostały ramy definicyjne pojęcia zagranicznych bojowników oraz jego ewolucja w kierunku zagranicznych bojowników-terrorystów. Następnie przeprowadzona została szczegó-łowa analiza głównego problemu oraz odniesiono się do kilku pytań badawczych: 1) jaka jest skala zjawiska bałkańskich ochotników (np. ich liczba, struktura pochodzenia i inne) w porównaniu z bojownikami z innych regionów? 2) Jakie są ich motywacje i cele, jak wygląda ich rekrutacja i sposoby przemieszczania się w rejon działań wojennych? 3) Jakie są zagrożenia dla bezpieczeństwa Bałkanów Zachodnich ze strony powracają-cych bojowników i jak poszczególne państwa przeciwdziałają temu zjawisku? Autor zastosował następujące metody badawcze: krytyczna analiza treści (literatura przedmiotu, artykuły naukowe, dokumenty, raporty, materiały prasowe) oraz analiza historyczna i porównawcza. Istotny wkład w część dotyczącą przypadku Kosowa stanowią wizyty autora w tym kraju w latach 2018-2020.

Bibliography:

Additional Protocol to the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/217.

Angelovski I., Marzouk L., Patrucic M., Making a Killing: The 1.2 Billion Euro Arms Pipeline to Middle East, Balkan Insight, 27.07.2016, https://balkaninsight.com/2016/07/27/making-a-killing-the-1-2-billion-euros-arms-pipeline-to-middle-east-07-26-2016/.

Barret R., Beyond The Caliphate: Foreign Fighters and the Threat of Returnees, “The Soufan Center”, October 2017, https://thesoufancenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Beyond-the-Caliphate-Foreign-Fighters-and-the-Threat-of-Returnees-TSC-Report-October-2017-v3.pdf.

Begisholli B., Kosovo Detains More Returnees From Syrian Battlefields, Balkan Insight, 24.04.2019, https://balkaninsight.com/2019/04/24/kosovo-detains-more-returnees-from-syrian-battlefields/.

Beslin J., Ignjatijevic M., Balkan foreign fighters: from Syria to Ukraine, “Brief ISSUE”, 2017, no. 20.

Between Salvation and Terror: Radicalization and the Foreign Fighter Phenomenon in the Western Balkans, V. Azinović (ed.), Sarajevo 2017.

Bytyqi K., Mullins S., Returnee Foreign Fighters from Syria and Iraq: The Kosovan Experi-ence, “CTC Sentinel”, 2019, vol. 12, no. 7.

Coll S., Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the So-viet Invasion to September 10, 2001, New York 2004.

Cooley J. K., Unholy Wars: Afghanistan, America, and International Terrorism, London 2002.

Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, 16.05.2005, https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/196.

Cragin R. K., Stipanovich S., Metastases: Exploring the impact of foreign fighters in conflicts abroad, “Journal of Strategic Studies”, 2019, vol. 42, no. 3-4.

Erjavec K., The Bosnian war on terrorism, “Journal of Language and Politics”, 2009, vol. 8, no. 1.

European Union Terrorism Situation and Trend Report 2016-2019, https://www.europol.europa.eu/tesat-report.

Foreign Terrorist Fighters Manual for Judicial Training Institutes South-Eastern Europe, Vi-enna 2019, https://www.unodc.org/pdf/terrorism/Foreign_Terrorist_Fighters_Handbook/EN_Foreign_Terrorist_Fighters_Ebook.pdf.

Ganor B., Defining Terrorism: Is One Man’s Terrorist another Man’s Freedom Fighter?, “Po-lice Practice and Research”, 2002, vol. 3, no. 4.

Gibas-Krzak D., Terrorism in the Balkans. Genesis – types – prognoses, “Internal Security Review”, 2018, vol. 10, no. 19.

Gunaratna R., Inside Al Qaeda. Global Network of Terror, New York 2003.

Hajdinjak M., Smuggling in Southeast Europe: The Yugoslav Wars and the Development of Regional Criminal Networks in the Balkans, “Center for the Study of Democracy”, 2002, no. 10.

Hamaid M., Foreign fighters: a five eyes border management perspective, “Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism”, 2017, vol. 12, no. 1.

Hegghammer T., Should I stay or should I go? Explaining variation in western Jihadists’ choice between domestic and foreign fighting, “American Political Science Review”, 2013, vol. 107, no. 1.

Hegghammer T., The Rise of Muslim Foreign Fighters. Islam and the Globalization of Jihad, “International Security”, Winter 2010/11, vol. 35, no. 3.

Joffé G., Global Jihad and Foreign Fighters, “Small Wars & Insurgencies”, 2016, vol. 27, no. 5.

Johnson Ch., Blowback. The Costs and Consequences of American Empire, London 2002.

Karp A., Estimating Global Civilian-Held Firearms Numbers, “Small Arms Survey Briefing Paper”, June 2018.

Kiss P. Á., Europe’s Second Front: The Risks and Challenges of The Balkan Peninsula’s Fun-damentalist Islamist Organizations, “Defence Review”, 2016, vol. 144, no. 2.

Kuperman A. J., The Stinger Missile and U.S. Intervention in Afghanistan, “Political Science Quarterly”, 1999, vol. 114, no. 2.

Malet D., Foreign Fighters: Transnational Identity in Civil Conflicts, New York 2013.

Malet D., The Foreign Fighter Project, 03.05.2016, http://davidmalet.com/uploads/Foreign_Fighter_Typology_2016.pdf/.

Mishali-Ram M., Foreign Fighters and Transnational Jihad in Syria, “Studies in Conflict & Terrorism”, 2018, vol. 41, no. 3.

Muji A., Reintegration of returning foreign fighters: what approach best suits Kosovo?, “Re-port by KCSS”, 2017, no. 4.

Nógrádi G., Bosnian Radicalism in Austria, “Defence Review”, 2016, vol. 144, no. 2.

Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, Making a Killing, 27.07.2016, https://www.occrp.org/ en/makingakilling/.

Prados J., Notes on the CIA’s Secret War in Afghanistan, “The Journal of American History”, 2002, vol. 89, no. 2.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protec-tion of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 08.06.1977, https://www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/other/icrc_002_0321.pdf/.

Responses to returnees: Foreign terrorist fighters and their families, 01.07.2017, “RAN Manu-al”, July 2017, https://ec.europa.eu/home-affairs/system/files_en?file=2020-09/ran_br_a4_m10_en.pdf.

Shtuni A., Dynamics of Radicalization and Violent Extremism in Kosovo, “United States Insti-tute of Peace Special Report”, 2016, no. 397.

Shtuni A., Ethnic Albanian Foreign Fighters in Iraq and Syria, “CTC Sentinel”, 2015, vol. 8, no. 4.

Shtuni A., Western Balkans Foreign Fighters and Homegrown Jihadis: Trends and Implica-tions, “CTC Sentinel”, 2019, vol. 12, no. 7.

The Challenge of Returning and Relocating Foreign Terrorist Fighters: Research Perspectives, “CTED Trends Report”, March 2018, https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/ctc/content/challenge-returning-and-relocating-foreign-terrorist-fighters-research-perspectives.

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, Hotspots of Organized Crime in the Western Balkans, Geneva 2019.

United Nations, Eighth report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by ISIL (Da’esh) to international peace and security and the range of United Nations efforts in support of Member States in countering the threat, https://www.un.org/sc/ctc/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/N1901937_EN.pdf.

United Nations, Security Council Resolution 2178, 24.09.2014, https://www.undocs.org/S/RES/2178%20 (2014).

United Nations, Security Council Resolution 2396, 21.12.2017, https://undocs.org/en/S/RES/2396(2017).

Zuijdewijn J. R., Bakker E., Returning western foreign fighters: The case of Afghanistan, Bos-nia and Somalia, “The International Centre for Counter-Terrorism”, 2014, no. 2.

PDF: Download