This book offers various perspectives, with an international legal focus, on an important and underexplored topic, which has recently gained momentum: the issue of foreign fighters. It provides an overview of challenges, pays considerable attention to the status of foreign fighters, and addresses numerous approaches, both at the supranational and national level, on how to tackle this problem. Outstanding experts in the field ¿ lawyers, historians and political scientists ¿ contributed to the present volume, providing the reader with a multitude of views concerning this multifaceted phenomenon. Particular attention is paid to its implications in light of the armed conflicts currently taking place in Syria and Iraq.Andrea de Guttry is a Full Professor of International Law at the Scuola Superiore Sant¿Anna, Pisa, Italy. Francesca Capone is a Research Fellow in Public International Law at the Scuola Superiore Sant¿Anna. Christophe Paulussen is a Senior Researcher at the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague, the Netherlands, and a Research Fellow at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism ¿ The Hague.

A collection of contributions authored by outstanding experts in the field

Introduction.- Foreign Fighters' in the Syria and Iraq Conflict: Statistics and Characteristics of a Rapidly Growing Phenomenon.- Foreign Fighters' Involvement in National and International Wars: A Historical Survey.- Foreign Fighters as a Challenge for International Relations Theory.- Foreign Fighters: Motivations for Travel to Foreign Conflicts.- The Emerging Role of Social Media in the Recruitment of Foreign Fighters Gabriel Weimann.- Analysing the Recruitment and Use of Foreign Men and Women in ISIL through a Gender Perspective.- The Military Impact of Foreign Fighters on the Battlefield: the Case of the ISIL.- The Status of Foreign Fighters under International Humanitarian Law Emanuele Sommario.- Foreign Fighters and International Criminal Law.- Child Soldiers: the Expanding Practice of Minors Recruited to Become Foreign Fighters.- Armed Opposition Groups' (and Foreign Fighters') Abidance by Human Rights Law: the Issue of Compliance in Syria and Iraq.