The Origin of Terrorist Threats: Religious, Separatist, or Something Else?

Abstract

Recent studies indicate that the number of terrorist incidents is declining while their lethality is increasing. This trend in casualty rates has raised the rhetoric on terrorism leading to claims that a new form of terrorism has emerged over the last thirty years. The -new terrorism‖ is defined by a tendency towards maximum destruction and a pronounced religious motivation. The question is whether or not the new terrorism is actually driving current trends in terrorist violence? This study examines casualty rates by terrorist groups categorized by their ideologies and finds that trends in terrorist violence are not being driven by the new terrorism per se. Instead, all forms of terrorism are more violent generally, and variations of ethno-national terrorism are the most violent specifically.

Sociopsychological correlates of militant extremist beliefs in a postconflict society: The importance of ethnocentrism and quality of interethnic contacts

“…The strength of ethnic identity per se is apparently fertile ground for developing a militant extremist thinking pattern, especially in the context of recent interethnic tensions and conflicts. Although ethnic identification has been recognized as a major source of extremist behavior (Masters, 2008), research on ethnic extremism is still underdeveloped. Certainly, the motivation of ethnic extremists is somewhat different from other cases of extremism or terrorism: the core grievances of ethnic extremism are based more on dissatisfaction in reference to the political goals of their national group than to other forms of deprivation, such as economic grievances (Boylan, 2016).…”

“…Nationalism appears to have an exceptional role in radicalization—more than a third of terrorist organizations in the world today seek to advocate for the interests of their ethnic groups. These organizations are considered to be particularly violent (Masters, 2008). Furthermore, radicalization related to nationalism is more frequent in postconflict societies, since the conflict itself usually emerges between ethnic groups.…”

Bad Religion as False Religion: An Empirical Study of UK Religious Education Teachers’ Essentialist Religious Discourse

“…Not only is its chosen constituency a confessional one, but al-Qaeda also uses-and when necessary adapts-well-known Islamic religious concepts to motivate its operatives, ranging from conceptions of duty to conceptions of ascetic devotion. (Sedgwick 2010, p. 795) In contrast, some scholars have challenged the modern concept of Religious Terrorism, arguing that such increasingly lethal violence has, as its root causes: nationalism; ethnic division; and perceived economic injustice (Pape 2005;Sageman 2011;Hoffman 2006;Masters 2008). Others have posited that the secular/religious (or political/spiritual) binary is too complex to delineate terrorism as principally religious (Gunning 2007;Gunning and Jackson 2011;Cavenaugh 2004aCavenaugh , 2004bSmith 1962;Fitzgerald 1997;Eickelman and Piscatori 1996;Robinson 1997;Sayyid 2003;Adib-Moghaddam 2009).…”

Ethnic Conflict in the Indian Subcontinent: Assessing the Impact of Multiple Cleavages

“…Militant organisations functioning as units belonging to a common ethnic group threaten the lives of an array of individuals in a region, including not only state officials of the particular region but also other rival ethnic groups. More than one-third of terrorist organisations in the world operate to advance the interests of ethnic groups, and ethnic forms of terrorism are considered most prevalent in terms of a number of attacks and casualties (Masters, 2008). Apart from common ethnic interests, religious intolerance is also visible in various parts of the world.…”