Poverty & Militancy do not mix!

[davidbfpo]

Landed via Twitter a reference to an academic paper 'Poverty and Support for Militant Politics: Evidence from Pakistan':https://www.princeton.edu/~jns/publi...istan_AJPS.pdf

First, Pakistanis are weakly negative toward a range of militant groups. Second, poor Pakistanis dislike militant groups more than their middle-class counterparts. Third, this effect is likely driven by exposure to the externalities of militant violence, as it is stronger among the urban poor, who are most exposed to the negative externalities of terrorist violence; and stronger among the poor living in urban areas that suffered militant violence in the year before our survey. These results call into question conventional views about the perceived correlation between economic status and militant attitudes in Pakistan and other countries.....

If our results hold true in other countries, they suggest that it is the poor who may be the most natural allies in campaigns to delegitimize militant groups.

Second, it is unlikely that improving the material well-being of individuals will reduce support for violent political organizations.

[Bill Moore]

I'm always happy when I see more evidence attacking this myth. There is a perception the West that the poor are inclined to commit crimes as though money alone equates to your values and drives your behavior. Worse we assume if we, clear, hold, and "build" we will address underlying issues, so we have a doctrine partially based on this myth. Thanks for sharing.

[Firn]

I'm always happy when I see more evidence attacking this myth. There is a perception the West that the poor are inclined to commit crimes as though money alone equates to your values and drives your behavior. Worse we assume if we, clear, hold, and "build" we will address underlying issues, so we have a doctrine partially based on this myth. Thanks for sharing.

I think it has to do with our view about ourselves. We partly do believe that we are the good guys, that we are doing good things, that we are trying to help others and that a lot of problems would be solved if the poor and uneducated just could understand that. The crux of the issue is this is not only not true but even the other way around.

I wonder if we might not miss a trend also visible in the last century in the former colonies. Maybe it is the case that more educated people not burdened by poverty and the struggle for survival have more time, interest and dedication for broader (political) goals. That those goals can differ alot from those of the "West" is obvious.

P.S: If we look at this forum I guess that the relative level of eduction should also not be too poor either. To some extent it is somewhat of a mirror.

[Fuchs]

The "poor" become politically decisive if someone has enough money (or as in Zimbabwe, the power to promise them booty) to harness them for his/her political purposes.

[Surferbeetle]

Some interesting themes in this thread; the intersections of poverty, wealth, violence, misallocation of resources, and solving problems/building...

The perceptions of the hoi polloi vs the the perceptions of the few? The numbers of the masses vs the numbers of the few?

Wasn't a portion of the French Revolution, and isn't a portion of the Arab Spring about these themes? From there it seems to be a short walk to 'solutions/responses' such as Colonialism, the New Deal, community policing (it comes up as neighborhood watch in wiki), COIN, ARRA, and of course Democracy...

[davidbfpo]

It is all about mobilisation in the very widest sense.

For many here who are of a military background the word can mean something quite different; no, I don't mean railway timetables.

For those with a LE background the word can mean simply "more people, more trouble" and instinctively take a conservative viewpoint - "please not now".

As 'Surferbeetle' posted neighbourhood watch is an example of mobilisation; one wonders how LE would respond to neighbourhood change?

[SWJ Blog]

Rethinking the Relationship Between Poverty and Terrorism

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[davidbfpo]

A Time magazine article from February 2014, with the sub-title The studies are mixed, but our analysis should not be hasty:http://time.com/3694305/poverty-terrorism/

[Bill Moore]

A Time magazine article from February 2014, with the sub-title The studies are mixed, but our analysis should not be hasty:http://time.com/3694305/poverty-terrorism/

There is no one size fits all model, but this article seems to be desperate attempt to draw a link between terrorism and poverty where research so far indicates there isn't one. There wasn't one fact in the article that refuting the existing evidence; however, I support researchers to keep researching and studying this factor without bias. However, from a counterterrorism strategy perspective, the military shouldn't base its strategies on unfounded assumptions. To a large degree we have done this, and we continue to wonder why the results have been disappointing.

Regardless, the U.S. continues to support the UN's Millennium Goals to reduce poverty, and we should continue to do so for reasons that have nothing to do with terrorism. As a nation we care about the progress of humanity. It speaks volumes of who we are as a people, especially when contrasted with the state behaviors of Russia and China.

[davidbfpo]

Thread re-opened after an alert to this article by Bruce Hoffman 'Sorry, Politicians, But Fighting Poverty Isn’t Going to Defeat Terrorism; Despite Popular Political Rhetoric, Many Terrorists Are Well Educated and Well Off'.

He ends with:

The reasons why someone picks up a gun or throws a bomb represent an ineluctably personal choice born variously of grievance and frustration; religious piety or the desire for systemic socio-economic change; irredentist conviction or commitment to some utopian or millenarian ideal. The forces that impel individuals to become terrorists are thus timeless

Link:http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/20...1dkJZ4.twitter