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The Conversation USA

Are Islamic State recruits more street gang members than zealots?

  • Written by James L. Gelvin, Professor of Modern Middle Eastern History, University of California, Los Angeles
imageA makeshift memorial to the victims of the terrorist attack in Barcelona. Police killed five men August 18 believed to have been involved.AP Photo/Manu Fernandez

The recent terrorist attacks in Spain and Finland once again compel us to ask: Who joins the Islamic State, and why?

As a professor of modern Middle Eastern history, I have spent the...

Read more: Are Islamic State recruits more street gang members than zealots?

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