Studies / Europe, Strategy, Security
11 September 2018
Who are the European Jihadis? From Criminals to Terrorists and Back?
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Directeur de recherche à l’IRIS
The most well-known ISIS terrorist atrocities in Europe, including the 2015 Paris and 2016 Brussels attacks, saw individuals who in the past had been involved in organised crime and illegal trade graduate to the ranks of the world’s most successful terrorist organisation. It is now widely assumed that Europe’s terrorists are no longer radicals first and foremost but criminals who turned to political violence at some stage throughout their ordinary crime careers. Thus, the threat emanating from the “crime-terror nexus” hangs over Europe…