FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN THE ISLAMIC STATE AND FOREIGN FIGHTERS DURING THE BOSNIA CIVIL WAR

Pages:

8

Academic Level:

Masters

Paper Type:

Article

Discipline:

Political Science

Compare and contrast the role of foreign fighters fighting fighting for the Islamic state with that of the role of foreign fighters fighting for the Bosnian Mujahideen during the Bosnian Civil war

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FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN THE ISLAMIC STATE AND FOREIGN FIGHTERS DURING THE BOSNIA CIVIL WAR

 

 

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Abstract

We will compare and contrast the role of foreign fighters in Syria fighting for the Islamic State with that of foreign soldiers fighting for the Bosnia Mujahideen during the Bosnia Civil war. The motivations and number of foreign fighters who joined the Bosnia war are generally misinterpreted. We will establish that those fighting for Bosnia mujahadeen had an objective of fulfilling their religious obligations to protect Muslim society. At the same time, those in the ISIL war are motivated by struggles while trying to fit in modern developed and secularized societies. Most foreign fighters in I.S. come from developed economies and political systems but are marginalized and discriminated against by institutions and systems as minority groups in the respective countries. Most of the fighters come from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Russia, and Western European countries. However, the Bosnia war was a pivotal contributor to the formation of I.S. as most trained fighters are the leaders of terror groups and the I.S. It is the cradle of foreign fighters in the middle east and Europe. Government should put more effort into preventing the alienation and radicalization of Muslim groups from mitigating Terrorism and ethnic wars across the globe.

 

 

 

 

 

FOREIGN FIGHTERS IN THE ISLAMIC STATE AND FOREIGN FIGHTERS DURING THE BOSNIA CIVIL WAR

Foreign Fighters During the Bosnia Civil War

Introduction

The Bosnia war attracted numerous mercenaries from different parts of the world, such as the U.K., Arab countries, North Africa, Asia, and Afghanistan. Apart from money, most fighters were inspired by the desire to show loyalty to their ethnic and religious groupings. The Eastern Orthodox groups from Russia and Greece supported Serbs, Bosnia had support from Islamic Arab countries, while Catholics from Western Europe supported Croats. There were heightened conflicts for the control of the Yugoslav Republic among Croats, Bosnia Muslims, and Serbs following the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Although Muslim fighters came from all over the world, most of the volunteer fighters (Bosnian Mujahideen) came from Arab countries and Afghanistan. There are still debates concerning the effectiveness of this group and the number that went to the war from different parts of the world. Militant Muslim groups started to form long ago during the reign of president Alija Izetbegovic who had a dream of a great Muslim State that called for struggle against anything non-Islamic. Some of the Muslim fighters who graduated from the Bosnian war became generals in I.S. and have resulted in massive radicalization and terror attacks across the globe.

Historical Background

The three ethnic groups in Bosnia have the exact historical origin as Slavs from Asian origin. However, the Serbs became Orthodox Christians. The Bosnian war kicked off in April 1992 and continued until December 1995. It followed violent cases emanating from ethnic groups after the division of Yugoslavia. Serbs feared domination and annexation by the Muslims and Croats, resulting in armed conflicts (Tzvetkova & Mancheva, 2019, 9). Since the Serbs officials led the Yugoslavia national army, they gained an advantage over the other two groups. Muslim fighters condemned crimes against humanity, including mass murders, rape, violence, and imprisonment of Muslims.

Following World War II, Balkan states formed the Republic of Yugoslavia under a communist regime led by Josip Broz Tito (Department of State, 2021, 1). The government employed the ideology of ethnic nationalism and separatism since there were different ethnic groups in the territory. Ethnic conflicts developed among the six Balkan States. Serbians did not like the idea of recognizing Macedonia and Muslims as nationalities. Tito's death in 1980 was catastrophic to the unity of Yugoslavia, and the states started clamoring for independence. Serbia had sided with the allies in the first world war, while Slovenia and Croatia supported Germany and Austria. Serbs saw themselves as the majority and dominant in Yugoslavia.

Slobodan Milosevic became Yugoslavia's leader in 1986, and his nationalism policies deliberately allowed ethnic-based conflicts. He incited the vision of "Greater Serbia" for Serbs only. The tensions were the genesis of the Bosnia war, and Milosevic is regarded as "The Butcher of the Balkans." In Bosnia, more than half the population were Muslims by 1991. Bosnia claimed independence, but Bosnia Serbs wished to remain part of Yugoslavia and create an ethnic-pure state consisting only of Serbs. They formed the Serbia Democratic party. After the European Community and U.S recognized Bosnia as independent, the party launched bombs and armed attacks on Sarajevo, Bosnia.

The Bosnia war spurred a genocide affecting thousands of civilian lives, accounting for about 80% Muslims. Serbs claimed ethnic cleansing with the support of the Yugoslavia army and resources. The forces overwhelmed the U.N. safe city of Srebrenica. They murdered thousands of men and boys and raped thousands of women. About 8000 lives were lost, thus attracting international forces to intervene. The U.S called for peace dialogue, which resulted in Bosnia in the Serb republic and Croat-Bosniak. The Dayton Accords signed in Paris in 1995 ended the interethnic conflicts. Tribunals for crimes against humanity have been opened where perpetrators such as Milosevic were charged on 66 genocide cases. After his conviction in 2002, he died in prison in March 2006 (Bramlett, 2018, 1). However, there is still an outcry as some of the victims never received justice. The U.S is instrumental in integrating the Dayton Accords after the war (U.S Department of State, 2021). Thousands were killed following the shelling campaigns in Bosnia, and propaganda about Islamic holy warriors and derogatory language was vital in continuing the Bosnia war.

Foreign Fighters in Islamic State

Introduction

The rise of the Islamic State (I.S.) has been linked with the Bosnia war in 1995. Foreign fighters have been part of the Syrian civil war and the Iraqi war. Other fighters join the pro-government cause in Syria while leftists join Kurdish forces. Apart from Shia and Sunni militias, private recruiters are operating globally for military contracts. The Al-Nusra Front increased the number of foreign fighters as anti-government in 2014, and most of the fighters came from the Bosnia war (Metodieva, 2020, 2). There are three different ways foreign fighters travel to join the insurgencies in Syria and support the ISIL. The first is the pioneers who arrived long ago in Iraqi and Syria and held the leadership mantle in the organization (Meleagrou-Hitchens et al., 2018, 1). They have unique skills such as military training, fundamentalist religious ideologies, experience in jihadist war, and technical skills such as bomb manufacturing. Their role is to reach out for support through the network. The second group is the networked travelers. These keep in contact with like-minded groups to facilitate travel. The network may be based on kinship, community, and friendships. Some have contact with supporters with access to logistics and finances for the jihadist causes. The last group is the loners. They lack assistance and personal connection yet travel to Iraqi and Syria without being flagged. Most such travelers depend on the internet to make decisions on travel to the war zone.

Over 30,000 fighters have joined ISIS from at least 85 countries across the world. A substantial number come from the Middle East and another from the European countries. Other regions that supply the group with many fighters include Russia, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Tajikistan, and Indonesia (Picker, 2016, 1). As many foreign fighters are trying to return to their respective countries after long spells in the I.S. war, it is significant to establish effective programs for reintegration and rehabilitation to mitigate the risk of extremist violence and radicalization (Holmer & Shtuni, 2017, 1).

Historical Background

The Islamic State had control of about 40% of Iraq and a third of Syria (Glenn et al., 2019, 1). It emerged from remnants of al-Qaeda in 2004 and faded due to U.S troops in Iraq in 2007 and then resurfaced in 2011, where they bolstered its ranks and launched attacks in Iraq and Syria. However, the I.S. lost about 95% of its territory and significant resources (Mosul and Raqqa cities) in December 2017.

Ultra-aggressive behaviors and jihadism accompanied the rise of I.S. in proto-states. Some of the characteristics of I.S. include internationalist, intense ideology, irredentist, and territorial expansion. About half of the fighters in ISIL come from foreign countries. The foreign fighters are recruited for various purposes. For instance, multilingual can be assigned to spread propaganda that aligns with I.S. agendas and help recruit new members across the world (Department of Justice, 2021, 1).

The Case of Bosnia Foreign Fighters in Islamic Sates

The Jihadist propaganda from I.S. thrived in Bosnia as the organization tried to recruit foreign fighters in the Syrian conflict (Pugliese, 2019, 1). Unfortunately, after the Dayton Accords, the foreign fighters never left immediately. Initially, the locals had rejected Salafist ideologies of foreign mujahideen. However, some people living in the affected villages have increased tensions when they display jihad flags in the region (Pugliese, 2019, 1). The mujahideen fighters tried to spread radicalized ideologies to the locals who had been victims of the war to form a long-lasting infrastructure of militant Islamic groups to support Islamic causes. According to a study, the Bosnia war had long-term psychological impacts on survivors, displaced people, and returnees (Comtesse et al., 2019, 2). We argue that radicalization and the war's adverse effects resulted in the absorption of local Muslims into jihadist ideologies. The post-Bosnia-war foreign fighters inducted locals into ethnic war who later went to fight in Syria and Iraq.

Some foreign fighters in the Bosnia war came to show loyalty to the Muslims, while others flooded the territory to gain mercenaries. Later after the war, the foreign fighters became a significant liability to the stability of the state and peaceful coexistence. After arrival, the foreigners carried out independent and decentralized operations in supporting the victimized Muslims. They provided necessities to the victims of the war and tried to recruit and radicalize young men to their cause. They offered weapons and training to the recruits to join the fight and the Mujahideen group. The influence continued to the Muslim dress code and later to the jihadist's ideologies, worsening the hostility and conflicts among the ethnic groups in Bosnia and eastern Europe.

The foreigners established training camps that would be the home for the mujahedeen group and the local recruits. The primary base was in Poljanice in Bila Valley, while others were in towns such as Travnik and Zenica. The Bosnia army created a control unit for foreigners of about 1000 people in 1993 as the number of fighters increased tremendously. The control unit formed the Mujahedeen freedom fighters, and later, intelligence services showed that some key members of the al-Qaeda group were members of the group. Two of the 9/11 terrorists fought in Bosnia.

Study shows that thousands of volunteers in Syrian jihad come from Eastern Europe. There is widespread uncertainty on what might happen upon their return to Europe after a long period of indoctrination and experiences of extremism in places such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia (Scherrer, 2018, 5). The local population was radicalized in Southeastern Europe through mosques that received support from al-Qaeda leaders, generous donors from the middle east, and media. As a result, young people and youths have been convinced to join the cause. The militant groups in Europe are funded through a network of humanitarian aids, NGOs, and charity groups (Bardos, 2014, 75). Although the leaders deny contact with terrorists and jihadists, there is a flow of finances through Bosnia mosques from various donors.

Comparison Between Foreign Fighters in Islamic State and Foreign Fighters During the Bosnia Civil War

Muslim foreign fighters in the Bosnia war were fighting against ethnic cleansing by the Serbs. On the other hand, a study shows that the number of foreign fighters in ISIL is motivated by the human development index and the per capita GDP (Benmelech & Klor, 2018, 1459). Poor economic conditions are not related to participation in ISIS operations (Picker, 2016, 1). In contrast to general perception, very few foreign fighters join ISIS from nations with many Muslims like India, Indonesia, and Pakistan. According to the IEP (2021), most fighters from foreign nations come from regions with highly developed political institutions, low inequality in income, and a high level of economic development. Most recruits also come from countries with prosperous homogeneity in the linguistic and ethnic characteristics of the population. Those countries are developed and full of secularized religion, culture, and social life. The immigrants feel socially excluded, alienated, and marginalized. They experience systematic discrimination, which makes most people susceptible to fundamentalist behaviors and interpretations of social systems (Mironova, 2021, 1).

The Muslims in these countries join ISIS in search of belonging and identity. As they are recruited as foreign fighters, they are subjected to radicalization. Significantly, societies are trying to solve linguistic and ethnic fractionalization issues to reduce the number of immigrants joining militant groups. There are also efforts to rehabilitate foreign fighters after their return.

Therefore, the fighters are motivated by political and religious ideologies. Muslim immigrants in developed and homogenous countries face difficulties in assimilation in mainstream society, which induces radicalization and recruitment to radical groups. The study indicates that the development of social media technologies has been a machine in spreading sophisticated propaganda and recruitment of potential members to ISIS (Picker, 2016, 1).

The foreign fighters in the Bosnia war were directly involved in the war through armed forces. However, research indicates a global network of jihadists who have pledged allegiance to the ISIS cause through ideological, individual, and resource commitment for continually funding the I.S. cause (Lia, 2015, 31). The foreign fighters, therefore, can either be directly or indirectly involved in ISIS.

Conclusion

The foreign fighters went to Bosnia to protect the considerable number of Muslims that Serbs and Croats were victimizing during the Bosnia war. Most foreign fighters are perceived to fulfill Islamic religious obligations and protect Muslim groups against violence and secularism. In modern society, the foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq are primarily fundamentalists and strictly observe religious teachings to create a perfect Islamic society. Most foreign fighters in ISIL have questioned their identity and face challenges in adopting the modern secular lifestyles in developed countries. The results of this are radicalization and joining military groups. Foreign fighters' recruitment and radicalization in I.S. is a worldwide crisis and should be addressed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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