Nuru International believes that extreme poverty is a contributing factor to the causes of 21st century terrorism and insurgency, and that a reduction in extreme poverty will impede the proliferation of terrorism and insurgency.
Nuru International’s Founder and CEO Jake Harriman attended the U.S. Naval Academy and served over 7 years in the Marine Corps as a Platoon Commander in both the Infantry and a Special Operations unit called Force Recon. Jake led Marines in four operational deployments throughout Southwest Asia/Middle East, Africa, and Southeast Asia, including two combat tours in Iraq. He was awarded the Bronze Star for actions in combat during his second tour in Iraq.
Harriman’s personal experiences fighting the war on terror around the world convinced him of the link between extreme poverty and terrorism. Jake left his career in the Marine Corps and enrolled at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business to build an organization that would address the growing threat of terrorism by ending extreme poverty. With the support of his classmates, professors, and Silicon Valley investors, Jake founded Nuru International.
In asserting this position, Nuru International joins a diverse coalition of policymakers, activists, Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, economists and humanitarians:
“We can't just stop with a single terrorist or a single terrorist organization; we have to go and root out the whole system.
We have to go after poverty.”
-Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State, retired four-star general U.S. Army
“In the wake of 11 September, we were forcibly reminded that development, peace and security are inseparable. Underdevelopment and extreme poverty are the breeding ground of violence and despair, thus undermining peace and security for developed and developing countries alike.”
-Han Seung-soo, former Prime Minister South Korea, former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations
“Poverty in all its forms is the greatest single threat to peace, security, democracy, human rights and the environment.”
-Mike Moore, former Director-General World Trade Organisation (WTO)
“If we try to resolve terrorism with military might and nothing else, then we will be no safer than we were before 9/11. If we truly want a legacy of peace for our children, we need to understand that this is a war that will ultimately be won with books, not with bombs.”
(from Three Cups of Tea, p. 301).
-Greg Mortenson, author Three Cups of Tea, co-founder of Central Asia Institute
“You can never win a war against terror as long as there are conditions in the world that make people desperate --
poverty, disease, ignorance, et cetera.”
-Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
“And since extremely poor societies and weak states provide optimal breeding grounds for disease, terrorism, and conflict, the United States has a direct national security interest in dramatically reducing global poverty and joining with our allies in sharing more of our riches to help those most in need. … Such states would also have greater institutional capacities to fight terrorism....”
-Barack Obama, President of the United States of America
“Poverty and hopelessness, lack of education and failed government ... often allow conditions that terrorists can seize.”
-George W. Bush, President of the United States of America
“We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time. I believe putting resources into improving the lives of poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns.”
-Mohammad Yunus, economist, founder of the Grameen Bank, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate
“People have said, ‘Well, the terrorists were middle class, even rich, so what is this poverty/terrorism link?’ I think it’s a misunderstanding. Where poverty played its role was in the failure of politics in Afghanistan, which left such a vacuum that the Taliban were able to consolidate power and provide a base for terrorist operations.”
-Jeffrey Sachs, economist, Director of the Earth Institute at NYU, co-President of Millennium Promise
"We therefore have to…fight poverty not only for moral and humanitarian reasons, but also as an integral part of the fight against terrorism.”
-Jan Kavan, former President of the General Assembly of the United Nations
Further evidence supporting the link between terrorism, insurgency and extreme poverty is found in the methods employed by terrorist organizations. Both George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute’s Andrew Whitehead(1) and the International Crisis Group(2) contend that many terrorist organizations and insurgencies cannot function without the support of the communities in which they operate. Magouirk(3) and Leigh(4) find that terrorist organizations earn community support by providing social services (i.e. humanitarian development) for their impoverished constituency. For example, the Council on Foreign Relations finds that Hamas spends the majority of its resources providing “social, welfare, cultural, and educational activities” for the Palestinian people(5), Hezbollah operates schools, hospitals, and agricultural services for poor Shiites in Lebanon(6). Jeremy Kahn writes in Newsweek that Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba "runs schools, an ambulance service, mobile clinics, and blood banks" in Punjab and Kashmir(7). Aryn Baker of Time.com asserts that the Taliban builds madrassahs to offer free education to the poor in Pakistan and Afghanistan(8). Devin Leonard of the New York Times notes that services provided by these organizations come at a great cost (economic oppression, coercion into violent activities) that perpetuate the cycle of extreme poverty(9).
Other factors contributing to terrorism and insurgency include, but are not limited to religious intolerance(10); restricted civic participation or disenfranchisement(11); human rights abuses(12); ethnic, tribal and national conflict(13); perceived or fraternal deprivation(14); social cleavages(15); and certain geographic characteristics(16). Still, scholars Tore Bjørgo of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs(17) and Karin von Hippel, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, maintain that extreme poverty can influence these factors(18). For instance, religious intolerance can be fostered by lack of education. Perceived or fraternal deprivation occurs when an educated or wealthy individual identifies with the deprivation (often financial) of his or her social group and acts “on its behalf” (which may explain why some educated or wealthy individuals resort to terrorism).
In conclusion, Nuru International believes that the fight against terrorism will require military intervention; however, political and social reforms will also be necessary. Those actions will only be successful if there is a commitment to ending extreme poverty through integrated, sustainable, and scalable community empowerment initiatives led by local leaders. It is on this last point that Nuru International is dedicated to equipping the poor in remote, rural areas to end extreme poverty in their communities within 5 years.
Special thanks to Research Team Volunteers Sam LaNasa and Adam Terese.
1. Andrew Whitehead. Poverty and Terrorism. George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute. 21 August 2007.
2. International Crisis Group. Islamic Social Welfare Activism in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: A Legitimate Threat? Middle East Report No. 13. 2 April 2003.
3. Justin Magourick. The Helping Hand is Mightier Than The Sword: Terrorism and the Strategic Provision of Social Goods. University of Michigan. 9 April 2005.
4. Andrew Leigh. What Makes Martyrs Tick. Australian Financial Review. 19 January 2010.
5. Council on Foreign Relations. Hamas. 27 August 2009.
6. Council on Foreign Relations. Hezbollah. 8 June 2009.
7. Jeremy Kahn. Terror Has a New Name. Newsweek. March 15, 2010
8. Aryn Baker. The Taliban: Friend to Education? Time.com. 22 January, 2007.
9. Devin Leonard. Terrorism and the Pocket Book. NYTimes.com. 6 February 2010.
10. Fareed Zakaria. The Post-American World. W.W. Norton and Company. Page 156.
11. Alberto Abadie. Poverty, Political Freedom, and the Roots of Terrorism. Harvard University and NBER. October 2004
12. James Piazza, “Does Poverty Serve as a Root Cause of Terrorism,” in Debating Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Conflicting Perspectives on Causes, Contexts, and Responses. CQ Press. 2009
13. Walter Laqueur. The Terrorism to Come, in Policy Review. Hoover Institute. May 2004
14. Bongar, Brown, Beutler, Breckenridge, Zinbardo. Psychology of Terrorism. Oxford University Press. 2007. pp 70-71.
15. James A. Piazza. Rooted in Poverty?: Terrorism, Poor Economic Development, and Social Cleavages. 2006.
16. National Science Foundation. Rich Terrorist, Poor Terrorist. 26 March, 2008.
17. Tore Bjorgo. Root Causes of Terrorism: Myths, Reality and Ways Forward. Routledge. 2005 p. 33
18. Karin von Hippel, “The Role of Poverty in Radicalization and Terrorism,” in Debating Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Conflicting Perspectives on Causes, Contexts, and Responses. CQ Press. 2009 p. 55