Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T12:57:49.999Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Terrorist campaigns and the growth of the Muslim population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 March 2021

Seung-Whan Choi Open the ORCID record for Seung-Whan Choi [Opens in a new window]
Seung-Whan Choi*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science (MC 276), University of Illinois at Chicago, 1007 West Harrison Street, Chicago, IL60607-7137, USA
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The world population of Muslims has increased exponentially in the past decade. Why is the world's Muslim population growing so quickly? This study offers a new theoretical perspective: the growth of the worldwide Muslim population is a result of a series of terrorist campaigns that inspire non-Muslims to convert to Islam. For empirical testing, this study employs a cross-national, time-series analysis of 152 countries from 1970 to 2007. Although there is lack of data on conversions that follow terrorist campaigns for a direct test of the theory, this study finds a correlation between terrorist attacks and growth of the Muslim population. This finding is robust and consistent even after controlling for salient demographic reasons for growth, such as the level of fertility and immigration.

Keywords

Religious conversionempirical analysisgrowth of Muslim populationsonline propagandaterrorist attacksterrorist campaigns
Type
Research Article
Information
Japanese Journal of Political Science , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , March 2021 , pp. 40 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ABC News (2007) Transcript of the 2007 Osama bin Laden Video. September 6.Google Scholar
Achen, C (2000) Why Lagged Dependent Variables can suppress the Explanatory Power of Other Independent Variables. Available at: http://www.princeton.edu/csdp/events/Achen121201/achen.pdf.Google Scholar
Achen, C (2002) Toward a new political methodology. Annual Review of Political Science 5, 423–450.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acosta, B (2014) From bombs to ballots. Journal of Politics 76, 666–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acosta, B and Childs, S (2013) Illuminating the global suicide-attack network. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 36, 49–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Acosta, B and Ramos, K (2017) Introducing the 1993 terrorism and political violence dataset. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 40, 232–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ahn, A-R and Kim, M-J (2015) Why and How did Mr. Kim Join ISIS? Korea Times, January 21.Google Scholar
Angrist, J and Pischke, J-S (2009) Mostly Harmless Econometrics. Princeton: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Associated Press (2006) Al-Qaeda Tape Urges Americans to Convert. 3 September.Google Scholar
Baker, AH (2011) Extremists in Our Midst. New York: Palgrave.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakker, E (2011) Characteristics of Jihadi Terrorists in Europe (2001–2009). In Coolsaet, R (ed.), Jihadi Terrorism and the Radicalisation Challenge. Surrey: Ashgate, pp. 131–145.Google Scholar
Banks, A (2010) Cross-national time-series data archive.Google Scholar
BBC (2016) Who are Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist Group? November 24.Google Scholar
Bellemare, M, Masaki, T and Pepinsky, T (2017) Lagged explanatory variables and the estimation of causal effect. Journal of Politics 79, 949–963.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bernton, H, Heath, D and Carter, M (2002) Ujaama's conversion. Seattle Times, 24 July.Google Scholar
Bloom, M (2005) Dying to Kill. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Bright, M (2002) Interest in Islam mounts after Hijacking Atrocity. Guardian, 31 August.Google Scholar
Brown, L (2015) ISIS video warns US CNSNews, 7 October.Google Scholar
Brown, D and James, P (2018) The religious characteristics of states: classic themes and new evidence for international relations and comparative politics. Journal of Conflict Resolution 62, 1340–1376.Google Scholar
Choi, S-W (2018) Emerging Security Challenges. Santa Barbara: PraegerGoogle Scholar
Chun, K-W (2015) ISIS activities in South Korea. New Daily, 20 October.Google Scholar
Dugan, L (2010) The making of the global terrorism database and what we have learned about the life cycles of terrorist organizations. Unpublished paper.Google Scholar
El Hareir, I and M'Baye, EHR (Eds) (2011) The Spread of Islam Throughout the World. Paris: UNESCO.Google Scholar
Enders, W, Sandler, T and Gaibulloev, K (2011) Domestic versus transnational terrorism. Journal of Peace Research 48, 319–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Faiola, A and Mekhennet, S (2015) From Hip-Hop to Jihad, How the Islamic State became a Magnet for Converts. Washington Post, 6 May.Google Scholar
Flower, S (2012) The growing Muslim minority community in Papua new Guinea. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs 32, 359–371.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geller, D and Saperstein, A (2015) A dynamic model of suicide terrorism and political mobilization. International Political Science Review 36, 562–577.Google Scholar
Greenfield, D (2015) Sweden's Multicultural Center Expert on Islamophobia joins ISIS. FrontPage, February 23.Google Scholar
James, P (ed.) (2010) Religion, Identity and Global Governance. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jann, B (2014) Plotting regression coefficients and other estimates. Stata Journal 14, 708–737.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karagiannis, E (2012) European converts to Islam. Politics, Religion & Ideology 13, 99–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, H (2007) The Great Arab Conquests. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.Google Scholar
Kennedy, H (2008) Was Islam Spread by the Sword? Presented to the Yale Conference on Religion & Violence. New Haven, Connecticut, 16 February. Available at: https://rps.macmillan.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/kennedy.pdf.Google Scholar
Kleinman, S and Flower, S (2013) From convert to extremist. Conversation, 24 May.Google Scholar
Kydd, A and Walter, B (2006) The strategies of terrorism. International Security 31, 49–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaFree, G and Ackerman, G (2009) The empirical study of terrorism. Annual Review of Law and Social Science 5, 347–374.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LaFree, G and Dugan, L (2007) Introducing the global terrorism database. Terrorism and Political Violence 19, 181–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lapidus, I (2002) A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lasswell, H (1936) Politics: Who Gets What, When, How. New York: Whittlesey House.Google Scholar
Long, JS (1997) Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Google Scholar
Mandaville, P (2003) Transnational Muslim Politics. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, M and Jaggers, K (2014) POLITY IV Project.Google Scholar
Martin, T (1995) Women's education and fertility. Studies in Family Planning 26, 187–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McDonald, J and Moffitt, R (1980) The uses of tobit analysis. The Review of Economics and Statistics 62, 318–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moghadam, A (2009) Motives for martyrdom: Al Qaida, Salafi Jihad, and the spread of suicide attacks. International Security 33, 46–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mudd, P (2012) Are jihadist groups shifting their focus from the Far enemy? Sentinel 5, 12–14.Google Scholar
Neumann, P (2015) Foreign Fighter Total in Syria/Iraq now exceeds 20,000. International Center for the Study of Radicalization and Political Violence. The Soufan Group. CIA.Google Scholar
O'Loughlin, (ed.) (2014) Devil in the detail as Yazidis look to Kurds in withstanding Islamic radicals’ advance. Irish Times, 16 August.Google Scholar
Paloutzian, R and Park, C (eds) (2013) Handbook of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality. New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Park, Y-R (2015) The Islamic state: Korean youths trapped. hani.co.kr.Google Scholar
Pazzanese, C (2015) How ISIS is wooing converts in the west. Newsweek, March 23.Google Scholar
Pedahzur, A (2005) Suicide Terrorism. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Pérouse de Montclos, M-A (2008) Conversion to Islam and modernity in Nigeria. Africa Today 54, 71–87.Google Scholar
Pew Research Center (2007) Converts to Islam.Google Scholar
Pew Research Center (2011) The future of the global Muslim population.Google Scholar
Pew Research Center (2017) The changing global religious landscape.Google Scholar
Piazza, J (2008a) A supply-side view of suicide terrorism. Journal of Politics 70, 28–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piazza, J (2008b) Incubators of terror. International Studies Quarterly 52, 469–488.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plümper, T, Troeger, V and Manow, P (2005) Panel data analysis in comparative politics. European Journal of Political Research 44, 327–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ray, JL (2003) Explaining interstate conflict and war. Conflict Management and Peace Science 20, 1–32.Google Scholar
Rodgers, E (2010) Islam and the Last Days. Hilton Head: Connection.Google Scholar
Rollins, J (2010) Al Qaeda and Affiliates. Washington, DC: Congressional Research Service.Google Scholar
Roy, O (2004) Globalized Islam. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Roy, O (2017) Who are the New Jihadis? Guardian, 13 April.Google Scholar
Saunders, D (2013) What turns Some Western Muslims into Terrorists? dougsaunders.net, 25 April.Google Scholar
Schmeller, J (2012) Salafists distribute Free Copies of Koran in German Cities. Deutsche Welle.Google Scholar
Scourfield, J, Taylor, C, Moore, G and Gilliat-Ray, S (2012) The intergenerational transmission of Islam in England and Wales. Sociology 46, 91–108.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stern, J and Berger, JM (2015) ISIS. New York: ECCO.Google Scholar
Travis, A (2008) MI5 report challenges views on terrorism in Britain. Guardian, 20 August.Google Scholar
Uhlmann, M (2008) European converts to terrorism. Middle East Quarterly 15, 31–37.Google Scholar
Whittell, G (2002) Massive increase in conversions to Islam. Times, 7 January.Google Scholar
Wiktorowicz, Q (2005) Radical Islam Rising. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Wilgoren, J (2001) A nation challenged: American Muslims; Islam Attracts Converts by the Thousand, Drawn Before and After Attacks. New York Times, 22 October.Google Scholar
Windrem, R (2014) Is ISIS Winning Battle for Islamic Radicals’ Hearts and Minds? NBC News, 31 December.Google Scholar
World Bank (2017) World Development Indicators 2017.Google Scholar
Yayla, A and Speckhard, A (2016) No Coincidences in Terrorist Attacks. ICSVE Brief Reports, 9 August.Google Scholar
Young, J and Dugan, L (2014) Survival of the fittest. Perspectives on Terrorism 8, 2–23.Google Scholar