Exploring Secular Factors for the Lack of Violent Muslim Radicals in Indonesia
Abstract
The effects of violent Muslim radicals have risen over the past fifteen years. Once geographically isolated, extremist violence has spread to affect every nation. This study examines why Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, has low participation rates in violent Muslim radical groups. This study creates a radicalization index to account for extremist event data and population size. It then compares countries across a wide variety of secular factors: population demographics, employment levels, economy, poverty rate, national social assistance, level of governance, protection of rights, and travel distance to Iraq and Syria. Most radical country's citizens are educated, unemployed, live above the poverty line, and have high social assistance. The least radical counties have a large GDP, high poverty, and must travel the greatest distance to participate in jihad in Iraq and Syria. Additionally, this study found and explored many statistical similarities between Tunisia (one of the most radical countries) and Indonesia (one of the least radical countries). This study concludes that Indonesia may in fact be more radical but its citizens are relatively poor and the physical and financial barriers prevent their participation in violent Muslim radical groups. As countries develop and bring larger numbers of their population out of poverty, they must be aware of social currents and sentiments lest they enable and mobilize future extremists.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2017
- Accession Number
- AD1038871
Entities
People
- Christopher A. Bolz
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College