When veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq see the term “foreign fighter,” we often think of the waves of destruction caused by Salafist jihadis who came from across the globe to fight along- side their co-religionists to violently advance their particular conceptions of Islam.

As someone who served in and around the northern Iraqi city of Tal Afar in 2006-07, my first thought about the concept revolves around the March 27, 2007, dual vehicle-borne improvised explosive device truck bombs that killed 152 people and wounded 347 others.

The women, children, and men who became casualties in this market attack were targeted by Yemeni foreign fighters simply for being Shiite, followers of a sect of Islam. The men who spilled the blood of these victims had traveled nearly 2,000 miles.

But the concept of foreign fighters is not a new phenomenon introduced since the 2000s. And it’s not within the sole domain of Islamic militants.

 

What Are Foreign Fighters?

While there are many definitions of “foreign fighters,” the easiest way to think about them is to imagine volunteers who go abroad to fight in the conflicts of states where they are not citizens.

Think of heroes of the American Revolution, such as the French-born Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier (Lafayette) and Pierre Charles L’Enfant; the Prussian-born Baron Friedrich Wilhelm Augustus von Steuben; and the Polish-born Tadeusz (Thaddeus) Kościuszko.

Americans also went abroad to help Texas secede from Mexico in 1835-36. They flocked to France and other nations before the US government officially entered World Wars I and II. They fought in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War. And some Americans ventured to Soviet-occupied Afghanistan in the 1980s.

Volunteers are motivated to become foreign fighters for many reasons. Some may go abroad to fight for action or adventure, or for an escape from their daily ennui.