Those Who Choose to Fight the Islamic State: Autobiographical Accounts of Western Volunteers

Figures & data

Table 1. Basic information

Name	Nationality	Gender	Occupation	Affiliation
Rafael Kardari	Swedish (Kurdish)	♂︎	Security/bodyguard	YPG
Tim Lock	British	♂︎	Night-club security guard/prison officer	Dwekh Nawsha
Mike Peshmerganor	Norwegian (Kurdish)	♂︎	Ex-military	Pershmerga
Jesper Söder	Swedish	♂︎	Volunteer worker (missing persons, Red Cross)	YPG
Ed Nash	British	♂︎	Press officer with the Free Burma Rangers; journalist	YPG
Joanna Palani	Danish (Kurdish)	♀︎	Student	YPJ/Peshmerga
Ephraim Mattos	American	♂︎	Ex-military, U.S. Navy Seal, medic in the Free Burma Rangers	Free Burma Rangers/Iraqi army
Christian Heller	German	♂︎	Various work	YPG

Table 2. Mobilization pathways, modified from McCauley and Moskalenko (2011)

Pathway	Description
Personal motivation	Harm to self or loved ones can move individuals to hostility and violence toward perpetrators.
Group grievance	Threat or harm to a group or cause the individual cares about can move the individual to hostility and violence toward the perpetrators.
Love	Love for someone already radicalized can move an individual toward radicalization.
Risk and status	The attractions of risk-taking and status can move individuals, especially young males, to radical political action.
Unfreezing	Loss of social connections can open an individual to new ideas and a new identity that may include political radicalization.

Source: Fritz and Young 2019, 11. Based on McCauley and Moskalenko (2011).

Table 3. Summarizing some of the major results

Name	Personal association with Syria or Iraq	Religious/ideological motives	Personal motivation	Risk and status	Disappointment with the west
Rafael Kardari	Yes	No	Yes	Unclear	Yes
Tim Lock	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mike Peshmerganor	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Jespter Söder	No	No	Yes	Unclear	Yes
Ed Nash	No	No	Yes	Unclear	Yes
Joanna Palani	Yes	Partially	Yes	Unclear	Yes
Ephraim Mattos	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Christian Heller	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes