Best Defense

Thomas E. Ricks' daily take on national security.

Younger, more female, and on-line: A profile of Europe’s current crop of jihadis

Those are some of the core conclusions of a newly updated study of Western jihadis by Peter Bergen and his band at New America (with which I am happy to be affiliated).

Screen Shot 2016-03-29 at 10.19.02 AM
Screen Shot 2016-03-29 at 10.19.02 AM

 

 

Those are some of the core conclusions of a newly updated study of Western jihadis by Peter Bergen and his band at New America (with which I am happy to be affiliated).

The new jihadis are younger, more female than in the past, and heavily involved in various social media.

The good news is that very few Americans are going to fight in the Middle East and then returning home to make jihad. “So far, no ‘returnee’ from Syria has committed an act of violence in the United States and only one returnee has been arrested for plotting a domestic attack. Of the 27 Americans militants identified by New America who reached Syria, twelve have died, eight are at large, and seven are in custody.”

Image credit: New America

 

Thomas E. Ricks covered the U.S. military from 1991 to 2008 for the Wall Street Journal and then the Washington Post. He can be reached at ricksblogcomment@gmail.com. Twitter: @tomricks1

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