Explaining religious terrorism: A data-mined analysis

Abstract

What is the relationship between religious liberty and faith-based terrorism? The wider literature on freedom and terrorism has failed to reach a conclusive verdict: some hold that restricting civil liberties is necessary to prevent acts of terrorism; others find that respecting such rights undermines support for terrorist groups, thus making terrorism less likely. This article moves the debate on liberty and terrorism forward by looking specifically at terrorism motivated by a religious imperative and a country’s level of religious liberty—something not attempted in previous studies. Using classification data mining, we test a unique dataset on religious terrorism in order to discover the characteristics that contribute to a country experiencing religiously motivated terrorism. The analysis finds that religious terrorism is indeed a product of a dearth of religious liberty. The study concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for policy-makers.