In Strasbourg, France, three people were killed and 13 wounded when a lone gunman, identified as Cherif Chekatt, 29, opened fire on shoppers on December 11, 2018. (Photo: Sebastien Bozona/AFP/Getty Images)
Counterterrorism analyst Oz Sultan spoke with Clarion Project about updates on ISIS recruitment in the West, including what Europe can learn from American strategies.
ISIS recruitment on the Western front has been on the rise, with more and more captured jihadis revealed to be Western citizens. Recently, it was discovered that 34-year-old Warren Clark from Houston, Texas, sent ISIS his resume in an effort to join the jihadi death cult. Speaking with Sultan, he helps break down what ISIS is doing right and what the West should be doing differently:
While ISIS recruitment processes and their subsequent utilization of both complicated information networks and propaganda have been well documented, recent shifts in both terror networks and the utilization of ISIS tactics have become reason for broader-based counterterrorism concerns.
The Strasbourg attacks during the 2018 winter market in France underscored that both ISIS online propaganda dissemination campaigns and recruitment through a wide network of web portals are still an issue to contend with.
In the past, France’s military and police coordination dissonance have been emblematic of the ongoing problems with European counterterrorism efforts (as communication, community engagement and terror list tracking failures haven’t been resolved as of the end of 2018). Europe’s disconnected counterterrorism strategies on a global front also contribute to ISIS and Al-Qaeda continuing to elude European efforts.
Recently, ISIS recruitment tactics have found their way into the hands of the extremist political and racist [far-right] groups within Europe.
What this development highlights is a need for more American-style integration to be applied to Europe, where keeping migrants and immigrants in ghettos echoes historical failures at community development. Further, it illustrates that in a changing European Union, terror recruitment through social media can become the tools of radicals in many arenas.
