Terrorism & Poverty

http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S34/70/24O78/index.xml
"Expectations that poorer people are more susceptible to the appeals of violent groups have contributed to U.S. policies that focus on using aid to reduce poverty as a way to combat militant violence. But the survey found that the poor in Pakistan were substantially more negative toward militant groups than their middle class countrymen. By one measure, poor Pakistanis were up to 23 times more negative about militants than their middle-class counterparts."

http://swaminomics.org/the-truth-about-poverty-and-violence/

"You need skills and money to buy arms and out-manoeuvre a government. That is why education and money seem to characterise organised revolts and terrorism.

The Baader-Meinhoff Gang in Germany consisted of well-off, educated youngsters who believed that capitalism was the world’s chief enemy (rather like some participants at the World Social Forum).

The Japanese Aum Shinrikyo cult, which tried to kill thousands with nerve gas in the Tokyo metro system, also consisted of wealthy, well-educated people. So did the Red Brigades in Italy , who kidnapped and murdered former prime minister Aldo Moro. The roots of violence and terror lie in ethnic, religious and ideological differences, not income disparities. Poverty can be an exacerbating factor in poor areas, but is rarely the originating factor."

http://www.nber.org/digest/sep02/w9074.html
Economists have found a link between low incomes and property crimes. But in most cases terrorism is less like property crime and more like a violent form of political engagement, the authors suggest. "More educated people from privileged backgrounds are more likely to participate in politics, probably in part because political involvement requires some minimum level of interest, expertise, commitment to issues and effort, all of which are more likely if people are educated and wealthy enough to concern themselves with more than mere economic subsistence," they write. And terrorist organizations may prefer to use highly educated individuals as operatives because they are better suited to carry out acts of international terrorism than are impoverished illiterates since the terrorists must fit into a foreign environment to be successful.

http://www.nber.org/papers/w9074
"The paper investigates whether there is a causal link between poverty or low education and participation in politically motivated violence and terrorist activities. After presenting a discussion of theoretical issues, we review evidence on the determinants of hate crimes. This literature finds that the occurrence of hate crimes is largely independent of economic conditions. Next we analyze data on support for attacks against Israeli targets from public opinion polls conducted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. These polls indicate that support for violent attacks does not decrease among those with higher education and higher living standards. The core contribution of the paper is a statistical analysis of the determinants of participation in Hezbollah militant activities in Lebanon. The evidence we have assembled suggests that having a living standard above the poverty line or a secondary school or higher education is positively associated with participation in Hezbollah. We also find that Israeli Jewish settlers who attacked Palestinians in the West Bank in the early 1980s were overwhelmingly from high-paying occupations. The conclusion speculates on why economic conditions and education are largely unrelated to participation in, and support for, terrorism."

http://www.nber.org/papers/w9074.pdf