Radicalization and Al-Shabaab Recruitment in Somalia

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) published in September 2014 a study titled "Radicalisation and Al-Shabaab Recruitment in Somalia" by Anneli Botha, senior researcher at ISS in Pretoria, and Mahdi Abdile, FCA deputy regional representative for East and Southern Africa.

The researchers interviewed former al-Shabaab fighters and identified a complex array of reasons why they joined the organization.  The reasons include religious identity, socio-economic circumstances (education, unemployment), political circumstances, and the need for a collective identity and sense of belonging.