![[PDF]](/pb-assets/Icons/adobe-pdf-icon-1498649896243.png){kind=icon}
Abstract
Recognizing that the empirical literature of the past several years has produced an inconclusive picture, this study revisits the relationship between poverty and terrorism and suggests a new factor to explain patterns of domestic terrorism: minority economic discrimination. Central to this study is the argument that because terrorism is not a mass phenomenon but rather is undertaken by politically marginal actors with often narrow constituencies, the economic status of subnational groups is a crucial potential predictor of attacks. Using data from the Minorities at Risk project, I determine that countries featuring minority group economic discrimination are significantly more likely to experience domestic terrorist attacks, whereas countries lacking minority groups or whose minorities do not face discrimination are significantly less likely to experience terrorism. I also find minority economic discrimination to be a strong and substantive predictor of domestic terrorism vis-à-vis the general level of economic development. I conclude with a discussion of the implications of the findings for scholarship on terrorism and for counter-terrorism policy.
Keywords discrimination, economic development, minorities, terrorism
References
|
Abadie, Alberto (2006) Poverty, political freedom and the roots of terrorism. American Economic Review 96(2): 159–177. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Berrebi, Claude (2007) Evidence about the link between education, poverty and terrorism among Palestinians. Peace Economics, Peace Science and Public Policy 13(1): article2. Google Scholar | |
|
Blomberg, S Brock, Hess, Gregory (2008a) From (no) butter to guns? Understanding the economic role in transnational terrorism. In: Keefer, Philip, Loayza, Norman (eds) Terrorism, Economic Development and Political Openness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 83–115. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Blomberg, S Brock, Hess, Gregory (2008b) The Lexus and the olive branch. In: Keefer, Philip, Loayza, Norman (eds) Terrorism, Economic Development and Political Openness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 116–147. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Blomberg, S Brock, Rosendorff, B P (2006) A gravity model of globalization, democracy and transnational terrorism. Research Paper no. C06-6. University of Southern California Law School. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bluestein, Paul (2002) Bush seeks foreign aid boost; Plan counters overseas critics. Washington Post 15(March): A10. Google Scholar | |
|
Bradley, John R (2006) Iran’s ethnic tinderbox. Washington Quarterly 30(1): 181–190. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Brandt, Patrick T, Williams, John T, Fordham, Benjamin O, Pollins, Brian (2000) Dynamic models for persistent event count time series. American Journal of Political Science 44(4): 823–843. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Bravo, Ana Belo Santos, Dias, Carlos Manuel (2006) An empirical analysis of terrorism: Islamism and geopolitical factors. Defense and Peace Economics 17(4): 329–341. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Buendia, Rizal (2005) The state–Moro armed conflict in the Philippines: Unresolved national question or question of governance? Asian Journal of Political Science 13(1): 109–138. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Bueno de Mesquita, Ethan (2005) Conciliation, counterterrorism and patterns of terrorist violence. International Organization 59(1): 145–176. Google Scholar | ISI | |
|
Burgoon, Brian (2006) On welfare and terror. Journal of Conflict Resolution 50(2): 176–203. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Cameron, Adrian Colin, Trivedi, Pravin K (1998) Regression Analysis of Count Data. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Caprioli, Mary, Trumbore, Peter F (2003) Ethnic discrimination and interstate violence: Testing the international impact of domestic behavior. Journal of Peace Research 40(1): 5–23. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Cleary, Matthew R (2000) Democracy and indigenous rebellion in Latin America. Comparative Political Studies 33(9): 1123–1153. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Collier, Paul, Hoeffler, Anke, Rohner, Dominic (2009) Beyond greed and grievance: Feasibility and civil war. Oxford Economic Papers 61(1): 1–27. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Crenshaw, Martha (1981) The causes of terrorism. Comparative Politics 13(4): 379–399. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Crenshaw, Martha (2007) Terrorism and global security. In: Crocker, Chester A, Hampson, Fen Osler, Aall, Pamela (eds) Leashing the Dogs of War: Conflict Management in a Divided World. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace Press, 15–30. Google Scholar | |
|
Derin-Güre, Pinar (2009) Does terrorism have economic roots? Unpublished paper, Department of Economics, Boston University. Google Scholar | |
|
Drakos, Konstantinos, Gofas, Andreas (2006) The devil you know but are afraid to face: Underreporting bias and its distorting effects on the study of terrorism. Journal of Conflict Resolution 50(5): 714–735. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Dreher, Axel, Gassebner, Martin (2008) Does proximity to the United States cause terror? Economics Letters 99(1): 27–29. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Dubois, David L, Burk-Braxton, Carol, Swenson, Lance P, Tevendale, Heather D, Hardesty, Jennifer L (2002) Race and gender influences on adjustment in early adolescence: Investigation of an integrative model. Child Development 73: 1573–1592. Google Scholar | Crossref | Medline | ISI | |
|
Ellina, Maro, Moore, Will H (1990) Discrimination and political violence: A cross-national study with two time periods. Western Political Quarterly 43(2): 267–278. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Enders, Walter, Sandler, Todd, Gaibulloev, Khusrav (2011) Domestic versus transnational terrorism: Data, decomposition and dynamics. Journal of Peace Research 48(3): 319–338. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Ergil, Dogu (2000) The Kurdish question in Turkey. Journal of Democracy 11(3): 122–135. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Eubank, William L, Weinberg, Leonard (1994) Does democracy encourage terrorism? Terrorism and Political Violence 6(4): 417–435. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Eyerman, Joe (1998) Terrorism and democratic states: Soft targets or accessible systems. International Interactions 24(2): 151–170. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Fair, Christine C, Haqqani, Husain (2006) Think again: Islamist terrorism. Foreign Policy January 30. Google Scholar | |
|
Fajnzylber, Pablo, Lederman, Daniel, Loayza, Norman (2002) Inequality and violent crime. Journal of Law and Economics 45(1): part 1. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Fearon, James D (2008) Economic development, insurgency and civil war. In: Helpman, Elhanen (ed.) Institutions and Economic Performance. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Fearon, James D, Laitin, David D (2003) Ethnicity, insurgency and civil war. American Political Science Review 97(1): 75–90. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Gurr, Ted Robert (1993) Why minorities rebel: A global analysis of communal rebellion and conflict since 1945. International Political Science Review 14(2): 161–201. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Hashim, Ahmed S (2006) Insurgency and Counter-Insurgency in Iraq. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Hewitt, Christopher (1984) The Effectiveness of Anti-Terrorist Policies. Lanham, MD: University Press of America. Google Scholar | |
|
Hoffman, Bruce, McCormick, Gordon (2004) Terrorism, signaling and suicide attack. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 27(4): 243–281. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Hsieh, Ching-Chi, Pugh, MD (1993) Poverty, income inequality and violent crime: A meta-analysis of recent aggregate data studies. Criminal Justice Review 18(2): 182–202. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | |
|
Joes, Anthony James (1992) Modern Guerilla Insurgency. Westport, CT: Praeger. Google Scholar | |
|
King, Gary (1988) Statistical models for political science event counts: Bias in conventional procedures and evidence for the exponential Poisson regression model. American Journal of Political Science 32(3): 838–863. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
King, Gary, Tomz, Michael, Wittenberg, Jason (2000) Making the most of statistical analyses: Improving interpretation and presentation. American Journal of Political Science 44: 341–355. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Klausen, Jytte (2005) The Islamic Challenge: Politics and Religion in Western Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Krueger, Alan B (2007) What Makes a Terrorist? Economics and the Roots of Terrorism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Krueger, Alan B, Laitin, David D (2008) Kto Kogo? A cross-country study of the origins and the targets of terrorism. In: Keefer, Phillip, Loayza, Norman (eds) Terrorism, Economic Development and Political Openness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 148–173. Google Scholar | |
|
Krueger, Alan B, Maleckova, Jitka (2003) Education, poverty and terrorism: Is there a causal connection? Journal of Economic Perspectives 17(4): 119–144. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Lai, Brian (2007) Draining the swamp: An empirical examination of the production of international terrorism. Conflict Management and Peace Science 24(4): 297–310. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Laqueur, Walter (1999) The New Terrorism. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
Li, Quan (2005) Does democracy produce or reduce transnational terrorist incidents? Journal of Conflict Resolution 49(2): 278–297. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Li, Quan (2009) Dyadic sources of transnational attacks. Unpublished manuscript prepared for the Terrorism and Policy Conference, University of Texas at Dallas, 21–22 May. Google Scholar | |
|
Li, Quan, Schaub, Drew (2004) Economic globalization and transnational terrorism. Journal of Conflict Resolution 48(2): 230–258. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Marshall, Monty G, Jaggers, Keith (2009) Polity IV Project: Political Regime Characteristics and Transitions, 1800–2008. Center for Systemic Peace, George Mason University (http://www.systemicpeace.org/polity/polity4.htm). Accessed July 2009. Google Scholar | |
|
McCord, Joan, Ensminger, ME (2002) Racial discrimination and violence: A longitudinal perspective. In: Hawkins, D (ed.) Violent Crime: Assessing Race and Ethnic Differences. New York: Cambridge University Press, 319–330. Google Scholar | |
|
Mickolus, Edward F, Sandler, Todd, Murdock, Jean M, Flemming, Peter (2009) International Terrorism: Attributes of Terrorist Events, 1968–2007. Dunn Loring, VA: Vinyard Software. Google Scholar | |
|
Minorities at Risk Project (2009) Minorities at Risk Database. College Park, MD: Center for International Development and Conflict Management (http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/data.aspx). Accessed July 2009. Google Scholar | |
|
Nafziger, Wayne (2006) Economic Development, 4th edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Google Scholar | |
|
O’Hearn, Denis (1987) Catholic grievances: Comments. British Journal of Sociology 38: 94–100. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Piazza, James A (2006) Rooted in poverty? Terrorism, poor economic development and social cleavages. Terrorism and Political Violence 18(1): 159–177. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Piazza, James A (2008) Do democracy and free markets protect us from terrorism? International Politics 45(1): 72–91. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Piazza, James A (2009) Economic development, unresolved political conflict and terrorism in India. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 32(5): 406–419. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Ross, Jeffery Ian (1993) Structural causes of oppositional political terrorism: A causal model. Journal of Peace Research 30(3): 317–329. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Sageman, Marc (2004) Understanding Terror Networks. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Sambanis, Nicholas (2004) Poverty and the organization of political violence. Brookings Trade Forum, Globalization, Poverty and Inequality: 165–211. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Sandler, Todd (1995) On the relationship between democracy and terrorism. Terrorism and Political Violence 7(4): 1–9. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Sandler, Todd (2003) Collective action and transnational terrorism. World Economy 26(6): 779–802. Google Scholar | Crossref | ISI | |
|
Simons, Ronald L, Simons, Leslie Gordon, Burt, Callie Harbin, Drummond, Holli, Stewart, Eric, Brody, Gene H, Gibbons, Frederick X, Cutrona, Carolyn (2006) Supportive parenting moderates: The effect of discrimination upon anger, hostile view of relationships, and violence among African-American boys. Journal of Health and Social Behavior 47(December): 373–389. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
US Department of State, Bureau for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor (2009) Advancing Freedom and Democracy Reports, May 2009 (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/afdr/2009/frontmatter/122807.htm). Google Scholar | |
|
Van de, Voorde (2005) Sri Lankan terrorism: Assessing and responding to the threat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Policy Practice and Research 6(2): 181–199. Google Scholar | Crossref | |
|
Vreeland, James R (2008) The effect of political regime on civil war: Unpacking anocracy. Journal of Conflict Resolution 52(3): 401–425. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Wade, Sarah Jackson, Reiter, Dan (2007) Does democracy matter? Journal of Conflict Resolution 51(2): 329–348. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Walsh, James I, Piazza, James A (2010) Why respecting physical integrity rights reduces terrorism. Comparative Political Studies 43(4): 551–577. Google Scholar | SAGE Journals | ISI | |
|
Whittaker, David J (2001) The Terrorism Reader. New York: Routledge. Google Scholar | |
|
Young, Joseph, Michael, Findley (2011) Promise and pitfalls of terrorism research. International Studies Review: forthcoming. Google Scholar | Crossref |
