The purpose of this assignment is to choose a topic or issue that demonstrates how places influence one another. Places are interdependent, and events that occur in one place can cause a chain reaction of events in other places. I have attached a sample p

Radical Islamist Recruiting International Scale - “Spain Arrests 7 suspected of sending militant fighters to Syria” Al Goodman www.cnn.com 3/14/2014

With the war in Syria becoming increasingly violent and widespread, Islamists have been needing to find more and more individuals to join their cause. They have been using multiple methods of spreading their religious and political views of radical Muslim terrorism. For example, the ISIS movement used #WorldCup2014 as a sneaky method to share their ideas and recruiting tactics with international audiences in hopes of increasing their jihadist militia. This first article examines how the Spanish government is cracking down on the recruiters they locate. Spanish authorities arrested seven men of varying European and African nationalities who were caught trying to increase al Qaeda recruitment numbers in Syria and Mali. The suspected ring leader, Spaniard, Mustafa Maya Amaya, and his cell of terrorists have recruited people from ten different countries. The article also marked the ten-year anniversary of the bombing in the Spanish subway system shocked the nation. Since that time, Spain has arrested 472 suspected terrorists within their borders and their level two security risk has remained unchanged.

National Scale - “Syria Militants Said to Recruit Visiting Americans to Attack US” Michael Schmidt and Eric Schmitt www.nytimes.com 1/9/2014

The second article is about how American citizens visiting the Middle East are being actively recruited and trained by Syrian militant Islamists so that when they return to the United States, they can carry out terrorist attacks in the name of Al Qaeda. Reports indicate at least 70 American citizens have entered Syria in the past three years to fight for the rebels against the government and President Bashar al-Assad. Americans returning from Syria who are suspected of being recruited are a central focus of the FBI and are monitored 24 hours a day. Americans are not facing as large a threat as the Europeans, who have lost 1,200 citizens to the Islamist militants, many of whom are frequently travelling back and forth from Europe to the Middle East. Most of the Americans who fought in Syria are still there, and some have died in battle. Most of the training involves Americans travelling to Africa and the Middle East, although less so in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The article concludes with examples of recruits from across the United States and emphasizes challenges that the United States faces locating which American citizens who have in fact entered the Syrian borders.

Local Scale “Jihad in Syria lures Somalis from Minnesota” Mukhtar Ibrahim www.mprnews.org 6/12/2014

The third article examines the successful Islamist recruits from the Twin Cities. According to the article, in the past few months alone, 15 Somali-American men from the Twin Cities have joined the Islamist movement. Many of these recruits are fighting for ISIS. The article focuses heavily on Twin Cities resident, Abdirahmaan Muhumed, who told MPR through a series of Facebook messages that he was leaving to fight for the Islamist cause. He indicated that he accepts being labeled as a terrorist if it helps preserve the global Muslim community. However, he did ask Allah and his mother for forgiveness. Mohammad Noor, executive director of the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, indicated that these young, Minnesotan recruits must be receiving funding. Most of them could not afford a plane ticket to Chicago, let alone across the Atlantic without financial aid coming as a recruitment incentive. The article also reminds it’s readers that United States law forbids American citizens to fight independently in a war waging against another country. Noor also indicated that some of the recruits, like Muhumed, have no family connections in the Middle East, making their switch to radicalism is very hard to predict or foresee. Muhumed has activity displayed his affairs in Syria and is posting photos of himself in tanks and deceased combatants. His friends in the Twin Cities have tried to reason with him, to no avail. The article briefly indicates a few other local recruits and states that the recruiter for Minnesota remains a mystery to authorities.

Geographic Connections

The concept of missionizing to spread the faith has a rich history that has been embraced by many religions, including Islam. Unfortunately, recent interpretational twists by radical jihadists have taken aspects of their religion to rationalize actions of violence - that are against their Holy text - ironically in the name of preserving their faith. The Islamists are finding diverse ways to actively increase their numbers to support their jihadist cause. It remains deeply unfortunate that the media is not clearly distinguishing the Islamist mentality from the Islamic Fundamentalists who peacefully spread their faith in accordance with the Qur’an. These Islamists are using methods of social media, local recruiters, and training Middle Eastern and African tourists from the west to augment their forces. The governments of western countries are actively trying to suppress these actions of recruitment that are against their national laws; however, increasing quantities, especially from Europe, are slipping past surveillance and even making it back into their home countries with their new jihadist training. Although many acts of terror created by these recruits are caught, like the Time Square attempted bombing, some still slip through the cracks, like the subway in Spain. The promotional outlets that the recruiters are finding are becoming increasingly more creative, and the people that they recruit are coming from unexpected backgrounds (perhaps because of financial bribes). As a country and a responsible citizen of this earth, one can only hope that local and national governments are able to find and prosecute the recruiters, and eventually find ways to suppress the violence caused by ISIS and other Islamist terrorist groups.