Who becomes a jihadist in Australia? A comparative analysis

This paper compares jihadist radicalisation in Australia with that in other Western countries. It identifies similarities and differences in both the nature of the jihadist activity undertaken and the demographic characteristics of the people who became involved. From this, the paper examines the utility of various theories of violent radicalisation for explaining jihadism in Australia. This opens the way for investigation into how the national context shapes the distinctive features identified in this paper. It concludes that several of these features can be readily explained by the fact that, during the first two waves of global jihad, Australia differed from both the US and Europe by lacking strategic significance and geographic proximity to jihadist-influenced conflicts.