The jihadists come from many European countries, Russia included, and some even from the United States; hundreds of them - if you take Europe, Russia and the U.S. - are fighting in the ranks of extremist groups.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
American jihadists are generally motivated by a mix of factors, including dislike of U.S. foreign policy in the Muslim world.
Whatever the reason, American Muslims appear far less inclined to support the global jihad than their European counterparts.
There is a group of individuals who are radical jihadists. We need to call them by name. They believe it is OK to kill people in the name of their religion. It is not all of Islam. It is not all Muslims. But there is a subgroup who believe it is OK. In fact, it is their plan and design to kill people.
'Jihad' can mean holy war to extremists, but it means struggle to the average Muslim.
Jihad expands Islam's domain by any means available.
When at the CIA, I was fond of saying that many jihadis join the movement for the same reasons that young Americans join the Crips and the Bloods: youthful alienation, the need to belong to something greater than self, the search for meaningful identity. But it also matters what gang you join.
There are very few fighters in the ISIS organization in Iraq and Syria coming from the United States; most of them have either come from a region of the Middle East or from Europe.
Islamist terrorism has declared war against us, against France, Europe, the entire world.
Disaffection, alienation and conspiracy theories are commonplace among European Muslims, but dangerous Islamist radicalism and the Islamic State's 'foreign fighter' recruitment successes tend to be specific to certain European towns, districts and ghettos.
Many American Muslims are peaceful and define jihad primarily as an internal struggle to improve.