Social Fragmental Origins of Terrorism: A Research Note

Social fragmentation is one of the primary factors feeding the reservoir of discontent leading to terrorism. Social fragmentation is a result of internal and external tensions. The primary set of internal tensions is ethnic identities related to several issues, including race, religion, and language. The primary external tension is rooted in past colonial policies which favor the emergence of puppet “strongmen,” and their hereditary successors within the colonized land (Migdal 1988; Shughart 2006; Esposito 2003). The external tensions polarize the fragments by disrupting the delicate balance in wealth distribution among social groups, enabling the emergence of cliental economies and tribal politics.     

Islam and the United States: streams of convergence,strands of divergence

This article identifies four historical phases of relations between Islam and the Western world, as led by the United States. The first phase was a convergence of values coinciding with a divergence of empathy. The second phase reversed the order – Islamic and Western values diverged, but intercommunal relations became closer. The third phase is after September 11 when intercommunal relations once again diverged while differences between Western and Islamic values were greater than ever. The futuristic fourth phase of Islam's relations with the U.S.‐led Western world is when the power of the new American Empire is circumscribed, Western values become less libertarian, and Islam reconciles itself to modernity.