CIAO DATE: 03/2011
February 2011
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
A salient feature of armed conflict in the Muslim world since 1980 has been the involvement of so-called foreign fighters. These foreign fighters are unpaid combatants with no apparent link to the conflict other than religious affinity with the Muslim side. Since 1980, between 10,000 and 30,000 such fighters have inserted themselves into conflicts from Bosnia in the west to the Philippines in the east.
Resource link: The Foreign Fighter Phenomenon: Islam and Transnational Militancy [PDF] - 282K