Terrorist Ideology and the Implications of Radicalization

A State Department report reaffirms that achieving an end to mass casualty terrorist attacks will require more than eliminating terrorist safe-havens and incarceration or killing terrorist leaders. On this point, it states that the underlying grievances and conflicts provide the fuel that powers the process of radicalisation. The sobering assessment offered by the State Department report is tempered somewhat by the Pew report, which, as indicated, was the domestic side of this. It was a survey of Muslim-Americans. That study found a diverse Muslim-American community that is decidedly American in their outlook, values, and attitudes. In comparison to Muslim communities in Europe, Muslim-Americans are found to be mostly assimilated into American society, happy with their lives, and moderate with respect to so many of the issues that have divided Muslims and westerners around the rest of the world.