Repression and terrorism in the Muslim world

• Main Author: Wee, Lin
• Other Authors: Nilay Saiya
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2024
• Subjects: Social Sciences; Religion; Terrorism; Repression; Islam; Political theology
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/175946
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

While extant research has established that extremist ideology provokes terrorism, there is little said about how regime-held theologies foments terrorism. This gap exists because ideologies are typically viewed from the perspective of individuals rather than states. This paper will adopt Daniel Philpott’s (2019) categorization of political theologies – religious freedom, secular repression and Islamism – to examine their respective relationship with terrorism in Muslim-majority countries between 2007-2018. Using a statistical approach, this paper contends that states adhering to the political theologies of secularism and freedom demonstrate an ability to mitigate terrorism while those aligned with Islamism are inclined to exacerbate its prevalence.