Recycled bricks: exploring opportunities to reintegrate returning American foreign fighters using existing models

Download
Author
Scott, Edward Francis, III
Date
2016-12Advisor
Wollman, Lauren
Halladay, Carolyn
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Foreign fighters have been engaged in conflicts for hundreds of years, but the sheer number of foreign fighters who travel to Iraq and Syria during the last five years is unprecedented. The United States is not sure what to do with American ex-foreign fighters who leave their group and want to return to the States and peacefully reintegrate back into society, since currently there is no reintegration program for ex-foreign fighters. This thesis explores how the United States can develop an ex-foreign fighter reintegration strategy using existing, analogous models. This study identifies two groups that possess similar characteristics to foreign fighters: U.S. street gangs and the U.S. military. Utilizing the conceptual frameworks of street gangs and the military, the conceptual life-cycle of foreign fighters is detailed to ascertain the practicality of developing a foreign-fighter reintegration program utilizing the existing reintegration programs of street gangs and the military. Based on the findings that foreign fighters, street gang members, and formerly deployed service members are very similar, I recommend the development of a multidisciplinary reintegration program for retuning ex-foreign fighters using specific aspects of each previously referenced reintegration program.
Rights
Copyright is reserved by the copyright owner.Collections
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Military assistance: a tool of national security and American diplomacy
Bahm, J. J. (American University, 1967);The Military Assistance Program has been a feature of American national strategy for nearly twenty years. It began with the Greek-Turkish Aid Program of 1947 which was enacted as a commitment supporting the Truman Doctrine. ... -
STOPPING THE NEXT ATTACK: HOW TO GAIN INTELLIGENCE FROM SUSPECTS DETAINED OVERSEAS
Fitzgerald, James M. (Monterey, CA; Naval Postgraduate School, 2019-12);The United States often faces two competing choices when a terrorist is captured overseas: bring the person back to the United States immediately to face trial, or hold the person in military detention, where prosecutions ... -
De-radicalization : you can check out anytime you like, but what will make you leave?
Arndt, Michael C.; Maksimowicz, Michael S. (Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School, 2010-12);De-radicalization programs for captured jihadi fighters have had mixed success in the Arab world. The Saudi Arabian and U.S. effort in Iraq serve as examples of effective de-radicalization programs, while the Yemeni program ...