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Causes of Terrorism: Study Explores Terrorist Group Rhetoric for Clues
In "The Implicit Motives of Terrorist Groups: How Needs for Affiliation and Power Translate in to Death and Destruction," Allison G. Smith explores whether the causes of terrorism lie in how terrorist groups perceive affiliations between themselves and others.

Causes of Terrorism Are (Still) Political
Suggestions that there is a "new terrorism"afoot that is more lethal, more fanatical, more religious than the old terrorism deserves closer examination. Upon examination, the causes of terrorism are still political, less than they are religious.

Studies on the Psychological Causes of Terrorism Seek to Profile Terrorists
Researchers have been conducting studies on the psychological causes of terrorism since the 1970s, using data on left-wing, right-wing and Islamist terrorism.

Narcissistic Rage Hypotheses
Narcisstic rage hypothesis was once a prominent psychological explanation of what motivates terrorism.

Is Suicide Terrorism Religiously Motivated?
The rise of suicide attacks among Islamist groups such as Hamas and Al Qaeda has led many to question whether they are religiously motivated.

Is Terrorism's Cause Poverty?
It appears to make senes that poverty causes terrorism. Who but someone in desperate circumstances would choose to be a terrorist? But over and over, the empirical evidence says otherwise.

Alienation, not Religious Extremism, May Cause Terrorism
About Guide Jennifer Brea reviews a provocative study suggesting that alienation and a lack of social belonging--rather than Islam--breeds terrorist violence.

Religous Extremism May Not Cause Terrorism
About Guide Austin Cline questions the premise that religion motivates Muslim terrorists.

Terrorism from Hopelessness
About Guide Robert Kennedy suggests that terrorism flourishes in societies where there is little sense of hope, and offers parents ways to help children feel hopeful, especially after disasters.

Terrorism's Growth Traced to Global Religious Revival
In 2004, the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that terrorism's growth can be traced partly to a global religious revival. This excellent report also evaluates poverty, demography and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East as causes of terrorism.

"The Security Demographic"--How Population Predicts Conflict
This Population Action International study shows how population impacts world security. Find out how rapid growth rates, "youth bulges" and other factors influence where and when conflict will emerge next.