The Loopcast

Thomas Hegghammer (@hegghammer), Aaron Zelin (@azelin), and I (@rejectionking) discuss the Sunni side of the Syrian Jihad. We discuss Qardawi's call to jihad and the theological underpinnings of that statement, foreign fighters in terms of numbers and motivations, the relationship of the Syrian jihad to the Sunni religious establishment in Saudi Arabia, and briefly comparing the jihad in Syria to previous contemporary jihads.

Thomas and Aaron have a good article in Foreign Affairs: "How Syria's Civil War Became a Holy Crusade"