Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post

Why Moderate Muslims Come to Support Extremist Groups

    Author:
  • Barbara Walter
| Nov. 29, 2017

Preview

Why do some extremist groups, such as the one that attacked Egypt’s al-Rawda mosque, thrive in today’s civil wars in ways that moderate groups have not? In 2016, Salafi-jihadist groups accounted for most of the major militant groups in Syria, half of all such groups in Somalia and a third of Iraq’s militant groups.

Most people assume that Salafi-jihadist groups such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State emerged because the “average” Muslim has become more radical over time. But in new research, I show this is not necessarily the case. In times of civil war, moderate Muslims have very good reasons to support extremist groups, even if they don’t believe the radical ideologies behind them.

Want to Read More?

The full text of this publication is available via the original publication source.
Read Full Article
For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation: Walter, Barbara.“Why Moderate Muslims Come to Support Extremist Groups.” The Washington Post, November 29, 2017.

The Author

Barbara Walter

Recommended
In the Spotlight
RSS
Brittany Janis and Melissa Shapiro write about the "Exploring Arctic Sustainability" program which brought together nearly 20 Indigenous youth from Alaska, Canada, Mongolia, Norway, and Sweden for a week of climate leadership training and dialogue.
Calder Walton writes in this Times piece that China is conducting an espionage onslaught against Britain unlike that undertaken by Western governments themselves. "It is broad, deep, accelerating, and multi-domain," he says.
Energy economist Severin Borenstein in this conversation with Robert Stavins discussed the many significant challenges facing the nation’s electricity power sector in the latest episode of “Environmental Insights: Discussions on Policy and Practice."
Most Viewed

Tags