In a video produced by a group calling itself the German Taliban last month, an unexpected individual appeared: a man by the name of “Abu Ibrahim the American.”According to an article in the Washington Post, “U.S. and European counterterrorism officials say a rising number of Western recruits – including Americans – are traveling to Afghanistan and Pakistan to attend paramilitary training camps.”

In the past, many Western recruits came to terrorism camps by their own means. Recently, al-Qaeda is actively recruiting Westerners, even giving potential recruits letters of recommendation to help them enlist.

Ibrahim is not the only case of Americans joining al-Qaeda. In July, U.S. officials arrested Bryant Neal Vinas of New York for traveling to a Pakistani al-Qaeda training camp. In the previous month, the FBI arrested Najubullah Zazi for planning to plant a bomb in New York City.

“There are lots of potential reasons why people may join a group like al-Qaeda.” said Sarah Estow, assistant professor of psychology, in an e-mail interview. “Quite likely, these are pretty angry and disaffected people who feel rejected by their own peers and, by extension, country. Joining this other group is a chance to both rebel against the norm and also to find another form of ‘community,’ for want of a better word.”

Because of al-Qaeda’s increased recruitment, the United States’ efforts to curb terrorist activity have been severely hampered despite several successful missile attacks against key al-Qaeda figures.

“The drone attacks seriously weaken these organizations, but you can’t rely on that alone,” said Guido Steinberg, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, to The Washington Post. “They obviously have no problem recruiting new members. In the long run, they won’t have any problem replacing the leaders who have been killed.”

“In terms of why people would join such a dangerous group,” said Estow, “that may be due to the glorification of violence that we see in our culture and now in many other parts of the world. It’s seen as being a ‘badass’ in a sense and for some people, that’s very appealing.