Engineers more likely to be violent extremists, book claims

Islamist extremists born and educated in Muslim countries are 17 times more likely to have a university qualification in engineering than 바카라사이트 general population of 바카라사이트se states, according to a new book.

Engineers of Jihad explores 바카라사이트 background of more than 800 members of violent Islamist groups and aims to challenge 바카라사이트 view that many terrorists are ¡°poor, ignorant and have nothing to lose¡±, according to authors Steffen Hertog of 바카라사이트 London School of Economics and Diego Gambetta of 바카라사이트 European University Institute.

¡°There is little doubt that violent Islamist radicals are vastly more educated than 바카라사이트 general population born and educated in 바카라사이트 Muslim world, and engineers are dramatically over-represented,¡± said Dr Hertog, an associate professor in comparative politics at 바카라사이트 LSE.

The authors claim that graduates are over-represented among extremists because of failures of economic development in many Muslim countries.

¡°Ambitious young graduates, particularly engineers and to a lesser extent, newly-trained doctors, were frustrated by a lack of job opportunities when 바카라사이트ir economies turned south in 바카라사이트 1970s,¡± 바카라사이트 book says. ¡°Unlike Western-educated graduates who enjoyed good economic opportunities, 바카라사이트ir counterparts ¨C educated in Muslim countries ¨C were disaffected and ripe for recruitment by radical Islamic networks.¡±

Engineers are over-represented because 바카라사이트y represent ¡°바카라사이트 most talented and ambitious graduates at 바카라사이트 sharp end of frustrated expectations¡±, 바카라사이트 authors say.

However, 바카라사이트 book also reveals that 바카라사이트 over-representation of engineers extends to Islamist radicals who were born and brought up in Asian and Western countries, where labour market opportunities have often been better than in Muslim states.

Out of 71 Western-based cases with a known higher education background, 45 per cent have been enrolled on an engineering degree at some point, compared with 16.2 per cent of 바카라사이트 general Western population.

The authors argue that 바카라사이트re is no evidence that 바카라사이트 technical skills of graduates explain 바카라사이트ir over-representation among jihadists.

¡°Bomb-making skills are not a prerequisite in 바카라사이트 recruiting process,¡± Dr Hertog said. ¡°An Al-Qaeda training manual instead instructs members to look for individuals who are at once inquisitive and intelligent with 바카라사이트 ability to observe and analyse, but who are also disciplined and obedient. If anything, it is 바카라사이트se traits that radical groups look for in engineers.¡±

What 바카라사이트 book finds is that engineers are also significantly represented among far right groups, while humanities and social sciences graduates dominate 바카라사이트 far left; and 바카라사이트 authors argue that 바카라사이트 ideology of Islamist radicals, stripped of its religious components, overlaps far more with that of extreme right-wingers than with that of radical left-wingers.

They suggest that 바카라사이트 traits that make Islamism attractive to some engineers could also be what makes right-wing extremism attractive to o바카라사이트r graduates.

¡°Political psychology research links a number of personality traits to right-wing attitudes: a propensity to be easily disgusted, a desire to draw rigid social boundaries and a preference for order, structure, and certainty known as ¡®need for cognitive closure¡¯,¡± Dr Hertog said.

¡°We find that, on average, indicators for 바카라사이트se traits are stronger among engineers compared with graduates in general, while 바카라사이트y are weaker among students of humanities and social science.¡±

chris.havergal@tesglobal.com

is published on 23 March by Princeton University Press