ISIS in North Africa: Past and Future Trajectories

From 2013 through 2014 ISIS recruited thousands of fighters from North Africa to fight in Syria and established a fallback position in Libya. Today, ISIS has lost much of its territory both in Syria and in North Africa. How did ISIS emerge in North Africa and what is its future in the region?

To discuss these questions New America welcomes David Sterman, a Senior Policy Analyst with New America’s International Security program and co-author of All Jihad is Local, Volume II: ISIS in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, a report that examined 1,800 ISIS personnel records from North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula at the sub-national level, Sarah Yerkes, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where her research focuses on Tunisia’s political, economic, and security developments and a former member of the State Department’s policy planning staff, where she focused on North Africa, and Aaron Y. Zelin, the Richard Borow Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy where his research focuses on Sunni Arab jihadi groups in North Africa and Syria as well as the trend of foreign fighting and online jihadism. 

Participants: 

Sarah Yerkes, @SarahEYerkes 
Fellow, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace 

Aaron Y. Zelin, @azelin 
Richard Borow Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy 

Moderator: 

David Sterman, @Dsterms 
Senior Policy Analyst, New America International Security Program 
Co-Author, All Jihad is Local, Volume II: ISIS in North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula