Insurgent Group Cohesion and the Malleability of ‘Foreignness’: Al-Shabaab’s Relationship with Foreign Fighters

Samantha Kruber and Stephanie Carver

Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 2023, vol. 46, issue 10, 1894-1911

Abstract: Foreign fighters can be both an asset and a liability for the groups to which they are recruited. While they can bring with them much sought after skills and resources, they can also create tensions between foreign fighter contingents and local membership. This paper considers Al-Shabaab’s relationship with foreign fighters from the group’s foundational years in the 1990s through to the infamous purge of 2011–2013. By examining Al-Shabaab’s history and narratives around foreign-ness and foreign fighters, this paper finds that foreign fighters have persistently influenced Al-Shabaab’s organizational cohesion and structural integrity.

Date: 2023
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DOI: 10.1080/1057610X.2021.1889091

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