Abstract
Among the nations of Europe, France has faced the worst forms of ISIS-inspired violence and has seen the highest number of its citizens join the Islamic State (ISIS) as foreign fighters. However, this is not France’s first encounter with Islamic terrorism. In the mid-1990s, when the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) carried out a series of attacks in France, the significant presence of radial Islam in the nation was a wake-up call for French society. This thesis investigates how and why ISIS has been successful in attracting French nationals to support its radical ideology at home and abroad. Through a comparative analysis, this thesis will investigate similarities and differences between two jihadi-salafist groups—the GIA and the Islamic State—in order to compare each organization’s geography, ideology, demographics, and recruitment methods. Drawing on network data from the Western Jihadism Project at Brandeis University, French terrorists and the networks they have developed will be revealed. This thesis argues that the Islamic State’s compelling ideology, \r along with its well developed technological and human networks have been a critical factor in its successful recruitment of French nationals to the organization.