“Poverty breeds terror.” At the United Nations, this claim is regularly expressed in discussions on terrorism. But does the evidence bear this out?
Analysis: In a recent debate of the Sixth Committee, the UN General Assembly’s legal committee, various diplomats made references to the “root causes” of terror, referring to acts of terror committed by non-state actors. Malaysia’s representative asserted that “the acts of terrorism being perpetrated today were rooted in political and economic grievances…” Pakistan’s representative stated that “the root causes must be addressed. That effort should focus primarily on promoting a peaceful resolution to conflicts and on promoting prosperity for all.” Yugoslavia’s representative agreed, saying: “The deeper causes of terrorism, especially the social and economic ones, should be identified, addressed and eliminated.”
But looking at the UN’s poverty statistics and the U.S. State Department’s terrorism report, there seems to be little coincidence between poverty and non-state terror. Every three years, the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) designates the poorest nations on earth for its “Least Developed Countries” (LDC) list. Using low income (GDP per capita of less than $800), weak human resources, and low economic diversification as the criteria, the LDC list compiled two years ago includes 49 countries, roughly one quarter of the family of nations. If poverty is indeed a root cause of terror, then one should expect many – if not most – of these nations to be sources of terrorist groups.
The most recent US State Department report “Patterns of Global Terrorism” lists 33 Foreign Terrorist Organizations, and 28 Other Terrorist Groups. Also cited are their “location/area of operation.”
Comparing ECOSOC’s LDC list with the 61 terrorist groups in the State Department’s report for the year 2001, we find that 37 of the 49 LDCs (75%) were terror-free. None of the terrorist groups were located in those countries nor did they operate there. Of the remaining twelve LDCs, six of the matches related to the persistent use of terror by armed groups involved in civil wars or local insurgencies, such as the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, Hutu militias in Rwanda and Uganda, and the “Cambodian Freedom Fighters.” These groups do not profess any particular ideology. They employed terror as a political-military tool in their secular quest for power.
The terror groups in the last six LDCs are ideological. Sudan is a state-sponsor of Islamic terrorist groups, and Afghanistan still harbored al-Qaeda when the State Department report was written. Nepal still suffers from Maoist rebels that have used terror. The “Movement of Islamic Holy War” is trying to establish Islamic rule in Bangladesh. In Yemen, at least seven Islamist terror groups have acknowledged or illegal offices. As a “failed state” Somalia is both poor and a natural home for terrorist groups. The State Department report mentions in particular “one indigenous group, al-Ittihad al-Islami (AIAI), is dedicated to creating an Islamic state in Somalia.”
Whether or not poverty affects the motivations of those who join the ideological and non-ideological terrorist groups, the fact remains that only 25% of terrorist groups are linked to the poorest 25% of the world’s nations. While prominent in UN debates, the idea that poverty breeds terrorism does not bear out in the real world. Perhaps it’s time for those looking for root causes to start taking the ideological statements of terrorist groups at face value.
