Hypothesis
As the theoretical consideration I mention above, my hypothesis would be that people’s economic condition (poverty) has no direct relationship with people’s participation and support for terrorism. As I mention above, people cannot determine the exact role poverty plays in determining terrorism. For example, educational level can work as a cofounding variable between poverty and terrorism since low educational level can both cause poverty and terrorism according to some studies. Also it is very hard for us to determine the position of political variables. For example, political repression and instability can both cause poverty and terrorism. As political instability increases, poverty and terrorism both increase. Under this circumstance,
…show more content…
In some cases, the poverty actually is caused by terrorism. Thus, my hypothesis would be that there is no significant relationship between poverty and terrorism.
Research Design
As the hypothesis I discussed, this article is dedicated to explore if there is any correlation between poverty and people’s support for terrorism within a country. Before I start, there are many things about poverty we have to clarify. Poverty theoretically means general scarcity, dearth, or the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. But it is also a terminology that contains many different meanings and indications. To understand, we have to separate relative poverty and absolute poverty. When people say poverty cause terrorism, it possibly means the condition in which lack the minimum income required to maintain the most basic
…show more content…
So people can come up with better idea to solve problems related to terrorism. The evidence from previous studies suggests that the relationship between poverty and terrorism is less significant than we expected. In some cases, people with more net worth and higher educational level are even more likely to join terrorism than poor people. Political stability, political discrimination and oppressive political repression actually play more important roles when it comes to facilitating people’s inclination towards terrorism. This finding is consistent with current situation. For example, Based on data collected by Chinese National Security Department, many religious schools in Xinjiang are funded by wealthy Uighurs and students in there are taught to become religious fanatics since they are kids. One possible explanation for the result is that terrorism actually can be seen as a kind of political violence and people who have money, power and high educational level can only put their efforts and income in politics to pursue their personal goals. That is to say, the direct strategy of decreasing poverty cannot be seen as a proper or efficient way to limit
Krueger, A. B., & Maleckova, J. (2003). Education, Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 17(4), 119-44
Tankel, Stephen. 2009. “Lashkar-e-Taiba:From 9/11 to Mumbai” Developments in Radicalization and Political Violence. International Centre for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence. Print
When dictators in autocracies continually oppress their citizens, disrespect their rights, and gain power through illegitimate means, citizens are motivated to act in a violent manner, join terrorist organizations, and support conflicts and wars. In Syria, for example, Sunni Muslims constitute almost three-quarters of the population. However, the current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an Alawite Muslim, has led several campaigns of mass killings, torture, and starvation against the majority. These series of actions incentivize Sunni Muslims, along with others, to take part in terrorist organization to fight against the state that oppresses them. Similarly, citizens in Afghanistan, Yemen, and Libya are persecuted and maltreated and, thus, contribute to the conflict. Seung-Wang Choi of the University of Illinois demystifies the effects of autocracies on terrorism, writing, “When authoritarian leaders use threats of punishment and violence through corrupt domestic legal authorities, ordinary citizens have more incentives to challenge the legitimacy of authoritarian rule” (Choi). Democracies, on the other end of the spectrum, are far less susceptible to this predicament. In fact, other forms of government prevent the spread of this ideological and physical conflict. Democratic polities discourage civilians from resorting to ideologically
Relative deprivation theory is a helpful model for understanding the roots of terrorism in Peru. Various terrorist groups arose out of the failed leftist political parties who were unable to raise the living standards for the native Peruvians. The founders of these movements were from the middle class and wanted justice for the poor. Peru was still a mostly primitive society in the middle of the 20th century, with only the 0.1% elite classes controlling 60% the arable land, and the poor performing unskilled tasks in service of the hacienda owners (Osborn, 2010). In 1...
Robert Wright considers the element of the biology of violence as a component of poverty and violence. To clarify his views he makes the relationship between gangs and political coalitions. He relates the motives of gangs to those in politics by depicting gangs as a group of people with concurring views who desire to serve each others interests suitably. Although the degree of destruction between gang violence and war or terrorism differs, it is Wright’s belief that the underlying principle that leads to each is the same. To understand this statement’s take the example of a poverty stricken mother or father. If the only way that they would be able to provide food or shelter was through acts of violence, it would be safe to assume that they would take whatever course of action necessary. Acts of terrorism (separate from the events of Sept 11 and onwards) are sometimes the result of a political statement or threat being made in an attempt to have a member of their group released when all else has failed. Environment also plays a role as in a sad but true way that violence is more “accepted”, in run-down, poorer areas.
Terrorism has been significantly on the rise over the past several years, making it one of the major concerns for governments and security organizations. The identity of terrorists and the activities perpetrated by them have been associated with certain races, religious affiliations and other geographical parameters, with little concern to understand the development of these characteristics among humanity. Most individuals have classified terrorists as being members of specific races and hence developed fallacious theories that associate terrorism with genetic makeup and other mental problems.
Jean Paul Sartre’s point regarding how oppression is “so tragic… that it forces the oppressed to adopt methods as brutal as those of their oppressors, in order to win their share of human freedom,” gets to the heart of the terrorism issue. Stern states in Terror in the Name of God, that “suffering can lead to sin.” While Allen in Terrorism in History states that, “the source of evil cannot be intentionality, but helplessness.” Both of these authors seem to come to the same conclusion that by being oppressed, people are more likely to take whatever action they can to get the job done in their desperation. Oppression has even managed to encourage citizens to take up arms to oust a regime or otherwise make changes to a government for hundreds of years. Yehuda uses examples of political assassinations being sometimes the only way for these fighters to “gain power, publicity and attention.”
Terrorism is a vast and complex topic and has been occurring throughout history, there are many definitions and types of terrorism that are often described by society; one that has gained the most momentum within society and the media today is religious terrorism. Although religious terrorism has its own specific definition along with other forms of terrorism, it seems that this type of terrorism has been assigned as a definite explanation behind most cases of terrorist violence; despite they’re being other factors contributing. Although this can be agreed to on some extent - that religion
Over the last few decades, terrorism has become one of the most polarizing memes in modern culture. And, one of the most the most divisive elements behind the terrorism debate is the catalyst that drives an individual to align themselves with radical extremist organizations in the first place. In fact, nearly everyone you ask has a well-rehearsed but, rarely supported, theory as to why a person would separate themselves from communal morality and adopt vicious antisocial ideologies. However, the true motivation may be much more communistic in nature than most people are willing to admit.
Terrorism is difficult to anticipate and can turn people against each other faster than anything else. Look at today’s society, terrorism is causing countries to turn their back on refugees and immigrants out of fear of an attack. In one of the articles, it spoke about who terrorism actually impacts. Contrary to popular belief to poor people of a country tend to dislike militant groups more than the middle class. This makes sense because generally where the terrorists chose to attack is in the urban areas where the lowest of income gather to trade and look for jobs. Even though the poor seem to have the most to gain from the militant group's goals, they are actually the ones who carry the brunt of attacks. Understanding this can help military campaigns in the country more effectively fight off the militant groups. By focusing on the lower class you can get a better foothold in the country and possibly more information on the groups as
Despite the end of the Cold War and the faltering beginnings of a peace process in the Middle East, terrorism still remains a serious threat in many countries, not surprisingly, given that the underlying causes of the bitter ethnic and religious struggles which spawn terrorism pre-dated the Cold War, and most of these conflicts remain unresolved.
Probably the most contested cause of terrorism is an aggrieved group resorting to violence for nationalist or separatist reasons; depending on one's point of view, this can be considered as resistance against an oppressor. The separation of states is an effect of unfairness in competition/rivalry when an ethny is subordinated or disadvantaged in economic opportunity, social status, political voice and rights, or cultural expressions. To generalize it further, ethnic conflict arises from a complex combination of class, inequality, political opportunity, mobilization resources and ethnic strength. And another factor is social stratification or inequalities in the distribution of scarce resources. And when they feel unfairness the relatively deprived they started
Terrorism has been around for centuries and religion-based violence has been around just as long. (Hoffman, 2). The violence was never referred to as terrorism though. Only up to the nineteenth century has religion been able to justify terrorism (Hoffman, 2). Since then, religious terrorism became motivated and inspired by the ideological view (Hoffman, 3). Therefore, it has turned against the main focus of religion and more towards the views of the extremist and what is happening politically (Winchester, 4).
Although we don’t see this form of discrimination in today’s time, we can still see racism in our country, fueling hatred and hurtful messages to those who belong to different race and ethnic groups. The quote was very meaningful to the whole story, in my view. That one quote had revealed many matters that would be connected to the story. A study conducted by Prof. Alan Krueger called ‘Poverty and Terrorism: Is There a Causal Connection?’, discussed the connection of poverty and terrorism that is widespread since the last few decades. The journal has done a research resulting that poverty and education do not have a direct link to terrorism. By terrorism, hate- crimes are the main offenses, whichever way it is conducted, but this gave an insight that there isn’t always a connection between poverty and class with crimes relating to hate, whether racial or
The word terrorism was first used during the French Revolution from the reign of terror inflicted by the French from 1784-1804 ("International Affairs"). It was used to describe the violent acts perpetrated on the French that inflicted terror on the various peoples and instilled fear within them. However, at the time it had a more positive connotation than the term that instills fear today. During the French Revolution this was because it referred to state-sponsored terrorism in order to show the need of state instead of anarchy, sometimes promoted by other groups (Hoffman 2). Therefore, even though terrorism has taken a new nature, terrorism can refer to official governments or guerrilla groups operating outside national governments ("International Affairs"). In order to encompass terrorism’s various sectors and explain it to the public, in both positive and negative aspects, many analysts have tried to put it into a few words. Terrorism is a method used by tightly of loosely organized groups operation within states or international territories that are systematic in using deliberate acts of violence or threats in order to instill...