Support to Foreign Fighters Regional Security Seminar in Jordan

This project supports the regional security seminar organized by the University of Ottawa and Public Safety Canada which seeks to bring together key security stakeholders from across the Middle East. The seminar aims to foster practical discussions and understanding regarding foreign terrorist fighters promote cooperation between senior representatives of security agencies from the region and encourage these agencies to examine ways in which this understanding and cooperation can inform and improve their respective mitigation strategies. The seminar seeks to: (1) facilitate discussions focused on the nexus between the foreign terrorist fighter phenomenon and its implications on the West; and (2) support the bolstering of partner’s long-range analytical capabilities through discussions related to the drivers of regional instability in the Middle East.

The expected outcomes for this project include: (1) enhanced cooperation between regional security agencies related to foreign terrorist fighters; (2) enhanced awareness for regional security agencies of key challenges to planning for long-term outcomes of ongoing regional conflicts and to identify drivers of change affecting the region’s security; and (3) production of an in-depth report covering relevant issues linked to the phenomenon of Western foreign terrorist fights joining the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and similar non-state insurgency groups in the Levant and Iraq