Abstract
Objective: The emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) was something no one could have predicted prior to the 2003 US Invasion of Iraq. A combination of skilled former Iraqi military personnel, eschatologically savvy Islamic clerics, and an army of domestic and foreign fighters have created the ultimate terrorist pseudo-state.
The huge number of domestic and foreign fighters joined to ISIS, leads us to the question about the general and personal objectives and motivations of warriors. Recognizing these motivations through a deep study is the main perspective of this article. What are the leaders’ motivations and what do shape those of the simple fighters? Are there any effective motivations beside of religious objectives? So could some social, psychological or economic factors be traced as the individual motivations?
Answering to such questions helps us to find relatively the degree and the depth of political cohesion and social solidarity inside of ISIS.
Methods: Relying on the explanatory analysis, our methodology is structured with a behaviorist approach. The official statements, declarations and testimonies as well as the discourses, confessions and interviews are considered as the main base of analysis and we try to chase our data from the first and secondary sources.
Results& Conclusions: According to our early prediction which was inspired from cognitive theory, various factors alongside the psychological characters shape the mental justifications and the heart motivations of recruits. And here in our case of study, there are a strong similarity between the understanding and conceptions of leaders and followers.
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