Travelling for an Idea
Travelling for an Idea
The Appeal of Al-Shabaab to Diaspora in the West
This chapter considers Al-Shabaab's Western foreign fighters. Members of the Somali diaspora in the West were the major source of Al-Shabaab's Western foreign fighters. Previously, a considerable number of members of the diaspora joined or attempted to join Al-Shabaab (referred to as ‘travellers’), and while the group's attractiveness for potential travellers has waned, the risk remains that it could revive. The chapter suggests that alienation plays a role in radicalization, such that travellers' acceptance of Al-Shabaab's violently anti-Western rhetoric demonstrates they were not deeply assimilated into the mainstream values of their host countries. However, it was Al-Shabaab's ideology that primarily attracted travellers. Thus, governments must try to delegitimize Al-Shabaab's worldview while promoting the attractions of their own ways of life in order to ensure travellers will not again seek out Al-Shabaab in large numbers.
Keywords: Al-Shabaab, diaspora, Western foreign fighters, alienation, radicalization
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