AL-QAIDA'S GERMAN FIGHTERS: THE GLOBALISATION OF ISLAMIST TERRORISM

Guido Steinberg
German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin

The jihadist scene in Germany is considered to be the most dynamic in Europe. Nowhere else in the Western world has the number of recruits for al-Qaeda and other terrorist organisations grown as quickly as here. German religious warriors from Berlin, Hamburg and Bonn - converts as well as immigrants - are travelling to countries such as Pakistan, Chechnya and Somalia, where they receive military training and are deployed in the terrorist fight. Many of them now have combat experience, gained for example in Afghanistan and, for some years now, also in Syria. Guido Steinberg's comprehensive, never alarmist political analysis traces the radicalisation of these fighters for God and al-Qaeda and places the phenomenon in the context of the international development of Islamist terrorism. Germany still lacks strong and effective security measures to ward off the threat of terrorism in the coming years. The terrorism expert therefore warns urgently of a development that could return there from Germany.

Moderation: Gudrun Harrer, Managing Editor Der Standard

In co-operation with Der Standard

Guido Steinberg: Al-Qaida's German Fighters: The Globalisation of Islamist Terrorism
edition Körber Foundation
SBN: 978-3-89684-162-9