Social Welfare and ISIS Foreign Fighters

We provide empirical support for a positive relationship between social safety spending and the phenomenon of ISIS foreign fighters, particularly among OECD countries. We argue that the problem with social safety spending is not its abuse by recipients but the way it is distributed. When examining t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gouda, Moamen (Author)
Contributors: Marktanner, Marcus
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2022
In: European journal on criminal policy and research
Year: 2022, Volume: 28, Issue: 2, Pages: 297-326
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Keywords:
D74
F51
F52
Isis
Islamic State
J22
Jihad
N45
Social Policy
Terrorism
Welfare State
Description
Summary:We provide empirical support for a positive relationship between social safety spending and the phenomenon of ISIS foreign fighters, particularly among OECD countries. We argue that the problem with social safety spending is not its abuse by recipients but the way it is distributed. When examining the nature of social safety spending, we find that OECD countries that prioritize passive rather than active labor market programs have, on average, proportionally more ISIS foreign fighters. We conclude that social safety spending that supports socioeconomic immobility is significantly associated with radicalization and terrorism.
ISSN:1572-9869
DOI:10.1007/s10610-021-09485-4