Perspective

European Foreign Fighters in Syria and Virtual Radicalization

 

 The Syrian crisis continues to be a hotbed of international politics and a matter of national  security in Europe ever since the emergence of thousands of European fighters who joined  Syrias civil war. The European governments are particularly fran- tic about the prospects of  return of their "radical-extremist" rebel citi- zens. Such fears are not unwarranted as many  British citizens have already returned home from the Syrian war theatre3. Their alarming return  back from the battlefield to European home countries is sending shivers, igniting debate and  indignation all across the European establishments. The London-based 'International Centre for  the Study of Radicalisation holds that the current mobilization of jihadists in Syria is the most  signif- icant phase in comparison to 'every other instance of foreign fighter mo- bilizations since  the Afghanistan war in the 1980s. The matter is also a hot topic for the European media which  regularly pumps fear with the stories of "European suicide bombers" in the ranks of Syrian  rebels.