Why do people become violent extremists? You might speculate that the answer is poverty. U.S. President George W. Bush thought so: "We fight against poverty because hope is an answer to terror." Or you might think a lack of education explains it. Laura Bush thought so: "A lasting victory in the war against terror depends on educating the world's children."
Neither of these answers is correct, however. Most extremists, including those who commit violence, are not poor and do not lack education.
Suicide bombers are likely to have more income and more education than most people in their home nation, research shows. A few years after the attacks of 9/11, people in Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey with higher than average incomes were no less likely to say that suicide attacks against Westerners were justified. People with more education were actually more likely to reach that conclusion.
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