Religion and Terrorism Theocracy on the rise –Iran –Saudi Arabia –Pakistan –India – BJP –Japan – Soka Gokkai –US Religious Right

Public Opinion in Iraq Steven Kull and Evan Lewis, Iraqi Public Rejects Iranian Model June 14, 2005 Available at: =

Characteristics of Religion-based Terrorism War analogy Cosmic war Demonization of the enemy Conspiracies Empowering of alienated individuals Truth vs. lies Linkage to mainstream issues

Sunni Vs. Shi’ite

Geography of Islam Non-Middle eastern states Indonesia 215 m Pakistan 160 m India 134 m Bangladesh 123 m Turkey 70 m Nigeria 65 m Afghanistan 31 m Sudan 30 m Total828 m Middle Eastern states Egypt 80 m Iran 70 m Algeria 32 m Morocco 32 m Iraq 25 m Saudi Arabia 22 m Syria 16. m Jordan 5.0 m Total282 m

Ideas and Politics A spectrum for political Islam LiberalOrthodox Indonesia Malaysia Turkey Taliban Iran Clergy AQ Iranian people Pakistan gov’t Saudi gov’t Islamists Fundamentalists Egyptian Gov’t Egyptian people

Rise of Extremist Islam Why the Middle East? Ideology Lack of Democracy Rising expectations and frustrations Inequality Socialist economics (OIL)

Explaining the Growth of Extremist Ideas Political Factors*Technological factors Authoritarian governmentadvances in communication Corrupt governmentcomputers for info storage Lack of civil rights; no democracyinternet and Lack of human rights; no individual freedomsease of travel Liberal and moderate ideas crushedease of global financial transactions Radical ideas crushed (Egypt)advantages of networks Radical ideas encouraged (Saudi Arabia)globalization Prison torture SOP Controlled press spreads ruling ideology Anti-West and anti-USSocial Factors Colonialism in past*Rapid economic change Strong religious traditions*Population growth Pan-Islamic ideasLack of social and economic mobility Pan-Arab ideas*More university education; lack of jobs *Failures of secular nationalism (Syria, Iraq)*Generation with a lack of identity No outlet for moderate dissent or debate*Expectations of success; lack of success Israeli-Palestinian conflict*Expectations of change; lack of change Economic Factors Poverty Small wealthy elite*Geopolitical Factors *Expectations of wealth through oilRapid wealth creation in Middle East *Rising populationIranian revolution *Massive underemploymentGlobalization Socialist economiesSoviet Invasion of Afghanistan Closed economiesCollapse of Cold War *Knowledge of wealth in other societiesInstability of shift to post-cold war world *Temporal Factors: These variables explain why events happened when they did. Many people ask why radical Islam developed, but we need to ask why it developed and why it developed when it developed. Growth of extremist ideas