Jihaspora and Millennials

Complexity, evolution, change and hybridization of terrorism in EU

Abstract

The military campaign in Syria against the Islamic State, along with the consequent fall of Raqqa and Mosul, fostered the “Jihaspora”: it is the diaspora of many foreign terrorist fighters who have moved from the Caliphate territories to new "jihadi magnets" far from their home countries. If we focus on their countries of provenance, we notice how the “Jihaspora” has generated a sort of magnetic effect which can potentially attract many fighters and direct them to several geopolitical magnets.

In the last two years, Europe has been facing the Millennials wave, a new surge of young terrorists inspired by the Lone Jihad narratives (cyber-)cultivated within the ever-increasing “Jihadisphere” and dominated by an "Islamic State of Mind". While the Member States are committed to set a legal framework and promote effective solutions to face the returnees phenomenon, the security scenario is characterized by the "Jihaspora" multi-faceted threat.

This study also aims at explaining why we should abandon the monolithic interpretation of the EU foreign terrorist fighters phenomenon, in order to develop and adopt different perspectives, as well as methodologies and techniques to face the criminal hybridization of the terror threat.