Sources of militancy

A man lighting candles at a vigil remembering the victims of the terrorist attack in Vienna, outside the Austrian embassy in Berlin. — AFP

WHEN he launched this year’s Human Development Report, UNDP’s resident representative in Pakistan, Ignacio Artaza, said that terrorism is often a reflection of inequality.

Those who favour such socioeconomic explanations sometimes cite other factors motivating violent jihadists, e.g. anti-imperialism, particularly anti-Americanism, a Robin Hood mentality, search for masculinity, and national or tribal affiliation. In other words, resentment against the West, the landed upper classes, and other ethnic groups are seen as sources of religious radicalism.