Abstract
This chapter is based on a previously published article in Social Indicators Research written by the same authors: Estes, R. J., & Sirgy, M. J. (2014). Radical Islamic militancy and acts of terrorism: A quality-of-life analysis. Social Indicators Research, 117, 615–652. The chapter examines the relationship that exists between varying degrees of terrorism occurring within a select group of 27 member states of the Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and: (1) their years of independence since colonization; (2) their current types of polity; (3) the extent of their civil liberties and political freedoms; (4) country levels of perceived public corruption; and (5) the overall level of each country’s broad-based social development (or quality of life). The political fragility of each state is examined as well as is its overall level of social chaos. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the principles needed to frame an “agenda for action” that seeks to accelerate the pace of mutual development and advances in quality of life for people living in both predominately Islamic and Western societies.
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Notes
- 1.
The contemporary Ba’athist governments (and political parties with that name) of Iraq and Syria bear little or no resemblance to the spirit of the Pan-Arabism, socialist-inspired, single party movement that led to establishment of the Ba’athist party under the leadership of Michel Aflaq, Salah al-Din al-Bitar and associates of Zaki al-Arsuzi in Syria in April, 1947 (Wikipedia 2014a).
- 2.
In an impassioned speech before a Joint Session of the Congress on September 20, 2001, then President, George W. Bush declared before a stunned nation that: “ Every nation, in every region, now has a decision to make . Either you are with us, or you with the terrorists” (Address to a Joint Session of the Congress, September 20, 2001, http://www.whitehouse.gov ). Only a handful of nations responded to the Bush challenge. The challenge did, however, lay the foundation for what was to become one of the most onerous attacks against personal freedom and civil liberties in the United States-- the USA “Patriots Act of 2001” signed into Law by President Bush on October 26, 2001 – major features of which were subsequently reauthorized by President Barak Obama in the “ PATRIOTS Sunsets Extension Act of 2011 ” (Public Law 107–56). [The title of the act is a ten letter acronym (USA PATRIOT) that stands for U niting (and) S trengthening A merica (by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001].
- 3.
The initial allied forces in Iraq consisted of troops drawn from Australia, Poland, the United States, and the United Kingdom; those in Afghanistan represented troops drawn from the Afghan United Front, Australia, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- 4.
Terrorism is defined by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation as “…the unlawful use of – or threatened use of – force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives (FBI, 2013).”
- 5.
PEST analysis is an analytical tool that is widely used in business, government, and the human services to collect critical data concerning Political, Economic, Social and Technological threats that have the potential of significantly interfering with an organization’s or community’s ability to function effectively. PEST analyses are typically conducted as part of an organization’s or community’s strategic planning efforts which, when combined with forecasting and scenario-development methodologies, significantly enhances the collectivity’s ability to surmount, neutralize, or otherwise minimize the impact of the threats to collective well-being (Bryson 2011; Williamson et al. 2003).
- 6.
Family members who are available to serve as providers of: (a) emotional and financial support for their financially needy members; b) provide for the socialization of children into society’s history, traditions, values and norms; (c) when possible, to assist in the financing of their young peoples higher education, shaping their careers, and opening doors for economic opportunities; (d) where appropriate, assist in the selection of marital partners for their children; (e) provide at least primary care for aged and disabled family members; and (e) and perform a wide spectrum of other services that families typically perform on behalf of one another (Randall and Scott 2000).
- 7.
In their strictest sense the terms “Jihad” and “Jihadist” translate into the noun “struggle” (i.e., a struggle on the part of individuals or groups of individuals to make themselves more acceptable in the eyes of Allah). In present usage, especially in the West, the terms are associated with religiously sanctioned violent behavior, or a “Holy War,” engaged in by Muslims and directed against the West, its allies, and global interests.
- 8.
A caliphate is an Islamic state led by a supreme religious as well as political leader known as a caliph (meaning literally a successor, i.e. a successor to the prophet Muhammad (Wikipedia 2014c).
- 9.
There are two primary sources of Sharia law: the precepts set forth in the Qur’an, and the example set by the Prophet in the Sunnah (Wikipedia, 2014d).
- 10.
The following categorical variables were converted into continuous variables using degree of independence or authority as the major reference point: (1) type of polity (absolute monarchy vs. constitutional monarchy vs. republic); (2) autonomy of head of state (ceremonial vs. executive); and, (3) freedom status (not free vs. party free vs. free). In each case the highest level of the continuum is judged to be more favorable to social development than the lower end; thus, each of these specially formed scales are positively related to social development for correlational purposes.
- 11.
Territories and countries that are frequently included in the Levant are Cyprus, Iraq, Hatay (a province in Southern Turkey), Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, the Sinai, and Syria.
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Estes, R.J., Sirgy, M.J. (2016). Is Quality of Life Related to Radical Islamic Militancy and Acts of Terrorism?. In: Tiliouine, H., Estes, R. (eds) The State of Social Progress of Islamic Societies. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-24774-8_26
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