In pursuing this research program, early investigations tended to focus on the identification of possible root causes of terrorism at the national level e. With topics ranging from the root causes of terrorism, the role of religion in terrorism, whether suicide terrorism is. The core theme of terrorism can be injustice that is product of the political system and its activities. An empirical analysis of terrorism in the middle east and.
Powerful external actors upholding illegitimate governments. Students will continue to have questions about terrorism as our world is everchanging. The working group on the psychological roots of terrorism deliberated intensively both virtually and in person over a four. Strategies for teaching about terrorism terrorism is not only a topic present in the north carolina essential standards, coverage of terrorist attacks around the world consistently appear in the media. Further, the paper tries to prove that the root causes of terrorism might not be economic, social, ideological or beliefs and religions. First, the populations that experience these alleged root causes are very large and yet, typically, only a very small fraction of them turn to violence. Following this introduction, in chapter 2, exploring roots of terrorism, dipak. International experts, meeting in oslo, listed these preconditions for terrorism. Dealing with terrorism has become the centerpiece of u. Thus far in this publication we have examined the lure of terror groups, including how and where recruitment takes place, as well as various developmental processes and places that help transform the new recruit into a competent terrorist.
This particular research will focus on exploring the causes of terrorism. Although terrorism is a presumably multifaceted and multicasual phenomenon lying between the nexus of war and peace, scholarly research on the causes of terrorism has all but escaped rigorous empirical analysis obrien june 1996. Socialrevolutionary terrorism in latinamerica and europe peter waldmann 327. I argue that the eu can only play its role effectively if it addresses the root causes of terrorism through sustainable measures. Google scholar crossref isi newman, edward 2007 weak states, state failure, and terrorism, terrorism and political violence 194. There is a wide array of factors on the macro, meso, and microlevels of analysis. This paper aims to discuss the root causes of terrorism, which might be political systems and political administration and policies.
The goal of this paper is to isolate three of the generally identified causes of terrorism ethnic diversity, religious diversity. This article provides clarity on the driving factors that attract youth to alshabab. It represented the first time that an academic meeting had been held to explore, in a systematic manner, the concepts and methodologies to conduct analysis on root causes of terrorism. Islam is the bottomfloor root cause of islamic terrorism. It will conclude that root causes, in isolation, are misleading as an explanation for terrorism.
The root causes approach it was noted that some authors believe that an approach to counterterrorism based on addressing the root causes of terrorism may be counterproductive. Yet terrorism, its definition, causes, and methods of dealing with it, has rarely been dealt with in high school courses. Exploring root and trigger causes of terrorism, transnational terrorism, security and rule of law, 28 june 2007, revised april 2008, web 3 march 2015. A case study of the tamil insurgency and the ltte d. The fear is that tackling the grievances which causes terrorism will be seen as weakness, and so encourage more terrorism. In general, terrorism has been associated with several socalled root causes that have promoted other kinds of political violence such as riots and street protests, revolutions, civil wars, and international armed conflicts. The making of a terrorist, by james forest teaching terror.
The terrorist attack on world trade center and pentagon has given a new dimension to terrorism. France says 930 citizens or residents involved in jihad, france24, 14 feb. The article concludes that indirect and underlying sources of conflict are significant to understanding specific incidents of terrorism and certain categories of terrorism. The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the u. In root causes of terrorism, a team of international experts. Against this background, this article examines whether terrorism is the result of root causes such as. Is terrorism the result of root causes such as poverty. Social, organizational and psychological factors in suicide terrorism. Root cause example of a political movement and terrorism political movements which we consider good can still be terroristic. There is no single cause or pathway into radicalisation and violent extremism. If root causes are key determinants of support for terrorist groups, for the.
We cannot get the root causes right unless we call things by their right names. Despite its sheer volume and diversity, if there are a few thin but resolute threads that run through this rapidly burgeoning literature, they are. The root causes of violent extremism introduction there are multiple ways to examine the root causes of violent extremism. The primary empirical and logical problems associated with such explanations can be summarized as follows. Recruitment, training, and root causes surpasses all other lighter treatments on the topic, providing the depth which makes it highly recommendable to security collections, military libraries, and more. An attack can be rooted in religious, social, or political conflicts such as when one community is oppressed by another. Pdf exploring the root causes of terrorism, studies. Pdf exploring the root causes of terrorism in south asia. Thus, there exists no single root cause of terrorism, or even a common set of causes. Pdf exploring the root causes of terrorism researchgate. This study takes an initiative to explore root causes of terrorism in south asia by using panel technique during the period of 19802011. Nelson mandela and the african national congress were considered terroristic. In an effort to assist teachers in helping their students identify and understand terrorism, the united states institute of.
This expanded behavioral precept carries two broad im. David meirlevi wednesday, november 09, 2005 many of our contemporary intellectual and political leaders are continually in anguish trying to figure out what the u. The results show that gdp per capita decreases terrorism incidence, however, remaining other economic factors i. Exploring the root causes of terrorism, studies in conflict and terrorism, vol. Featuring paired procon pieces written specifically for this volume, debating terrorism encourages students to actively grapple with the central debates and questions surrounding the subject of terrorism and counterterrorism.
Edward newman 2006a proposed the idea of root causes driving terrorism as a significant insight into how, where and why terrorist acts occur. Terrorism and the pursuit of power the ongoing discussion about root causes of terrorism has many. Others make the distinction between violent and nonviolent extremism, where the former is linked to terrorism and the latter in many cases linked to social justice interventionsinterpreted as positive and transformative. Exploring the root causes of terrorism in south asia. In what makes a terrorist, alan krueger argues that if we are to correctly assess the root causes of terrorism and successfully address the threat, we must think more like economists do. The limited research undertaken thus far to discover the root causes of terrorism in south asia. The issue of root causes of terrorism will remain a significant source of both research and policy attention, if only because terrorist conflicts can be so bloody, protracted and expensive. The lack of understanding the root causes of terrorism is a serious problem.
Countering radicalisation of muslim community opinions on. Root causes may, in fact, influence the subsequent trajectory of terrorism more than. Countering violent extremism working in crises and. The root causes of violent extremism european commission. Pdf terrorism is too important a subject for us not to be interested in what causes it. These have been offered as root causes of contentious politics in general and terrorism in particular. Therefore, the political system and decisionmaking are the root cause of terrorism. Table of contents executive summary 1 background 2 the challenge of defining cve 3. Therefore, ill take pakistan as a case study to explore root causes of terrorism at different levels. Some of the possible root causes are poverty, authoritarian and repressive regimes, or cultural and religious practices.
Representative peter king convened a fifth hearing on the radicalization of muslim americans. Exploring the relationship between the rule of law and violent extremism in the middle east july 28, 2016 support was provided by the u. In 2011, in recognition of the importance of identifying and addressing the root causes of extremism, the agency issued the development response to violent extremism and insurgency policy. However, as tore bjorgo of the norwegian institute of inter national affairs the. The manner, in which the terrorist attack was launched, had shaken the entire world in general and united states of. Exploring the relationship between the rule of law and. The notion of terrorism is applied to a great diversity of groups with different origins and goals. Terrorism occurs in wealthy countries as well as in poor countries, in democracies as well as in authoritarian states. Terrorism can take multiple forms and have many causes, often more than one. My purpose is not to defend any particular position about root causes, but merely to point out that these causes have a proximate psychological mechanism. An empirical analysis of terrorism in the middle east and africa 2 abstract since president bush declared war on terror, counterterrorism policies have taken up a significant amount of resources. This article attempts to clarify what is meant by root causes and considers if their analysis helps to explain and describe how, where, and why terrorism occurs. If we recognize the factors that impact the occurrence of violent acts, we will be more successful in containing or even eradicating them. This policy provides guidelines on using development programming to address the deep lying issues that foment extremist violence and fragility.
The rate of publications of academic and journalistic books and articles is getting even more accelerated since the days when the united states and other western countries started to feel its nefarious effects. It debates that without knowing the root cause of terrorism, there will be no plausible solution to the problem. It will argue that the contextual boundedness of terrorism undermines the construction of a model predicated on root causes, but acknowledges that the presence of some extraneous catalyst can compound such preconditions. Krueger is an influential economist who has applied rigorous statistical analysis to a range of tough issues, from the minimum wage and education to the. Although the hearings covered radicalization of muslim americans in general, special emphasis was placed on alshababs recruitment of more than 40 young americans.