One Size Doesn’t Fit All: The Many Faces of Africa’s Foreign Fighters

In 2020, Austin Doctor wrote, “The Looming Influx of Foreign Fighters in Sub-Saharan Africa,” in which he predicted the region would see an influx of foreign fighters to aid Islamist extremist groups. Six years later, we asked Austin to revisit his arguments.Image: African Union Mission in Somalia (Photo by Abukar Albadri)In your 2020 article, you forecasted an influx of foreign fighters into sub-Saharan Africa within a year. Six years later, how has that forecast held up? Did the anticipated surge materialize on the scale you expected? Why or why not?There are far more foreign ter