About Book

This article examines the foreign terrorist fighter (FTF) phenomenon through a comparative study of Tunisia and Algeria, assessing why individuals travel abroad for jihadist conflicts and how their return contributes to new recruitment networks. Cragin analyses the ISIS model of external operations—particularly its deliberate recruitment of foreign nationals for attacks in the West—and highlights how returning fighters historically seeded future extremist waves. The study concludes that preventing a new cycle requires early threat identification, legally robust counter-FTF provisions, sustained judicial funding, and structured reintegration programs. Its relevance is significant for contemporary counter-terrorism strategy: despite ISIS’s territorial defeat, online ecosystems and returning fighters continue to pose transnational threats, and states face recurring dilemmas around prosecution, repatriation, and long-term disengagement. The lessons from Algeria’s hardened post-civil-war policies and Tunisia’s challenge of mass returnees provide directly applicable models for governments confronting FTF risks in 2025 and beyond. Strengths: Highly focused comparative framework that illuminates divergent national approaches. Effective integration of historical, legal, and operational dimensions of FTF activity. Policy recommendations are concrete, actionable, and rooted in empirical observations. Strong clarity in linking past returnee patterns with contemporary online recruitment pathways. Limitations: Reliance on available governmental and secondary data may overlook clandestine or low-visibility networks. Focus on Algeria and Tunisia limits generalisation to non-MENA contexts without additional comparative cases. Reintegration models are discussed conceptually rather than deeply evaluated through outcomes data.A well-argued, policy-relevant analysis with substantial applicability to modern counter-terrorism planning. Its comparative depth and clarity on FTF lifecycle dynamics make it a strong contribution to both scholarship and practitioner-oriented policy development.