Motivations and Misperceptions : An Abbreviated Guide to Why Individuals Join Islamic Fundamentalist Terror Organizations

It is difficult to overstate the urgency of the terrorist threat against the US today. However, when policy makers and military strategists do not understand what motivates terrorists and terror organizations, they risk creating ineffective policy and military strategy. The purpose of this research is to create a General Model to serve as an abbreviated guide for military strategists and planners to gain insight into what motivates terror recruits to join terror organizations. The basic assertion of the General Model is that External Factors, Exposure to Terrorism, and Psychological Factors are essential elements in understanding why individuals join Islamic Fundamentalist terror organizations. An unfavorable combination of external factors - religion, politics, economics, culture, age, social networks, and education - cause the individual to live in a state of dissatisfaction with his circumstances. When the dissatisfied individual's social exposure to terrorism molds his values to see it as a legitimate tactic, the individual sympathizes with terrorists and terror organizations.