Publication

This paper examines the long-term recruitment processes of the so-called Islamic State (IS). More specifically, the text’s author explores three fundamental components of the recruitment process: 1) the radicalization, isolation and hardening of a recruit’s extremist leanings; 2) the amplification of a recruit’s positive view of IS, primarily through propaganda; and 3) using a third party ‘enlister’ as an attractor to the jihadist cause. To illustrate how these mechanisms are operationalized, the author delves into the case of Jake Bilardi, an 18-year-old Australian who died in March 2015 after driving an IED-laden vehicle into a position held by Iraqi security forces in Ramadi.