Abstract

This study analyzes the connection between the ideological affiliation of terror organizations and the nature of their violent activity. Utilizing large-scale databases cross-referenced with additional coding regarding group ideological affiliation, it's purpose is, first, to determine whether ideology has an influence on the activities of terror groups; and second, to analyze the nature of this influence is, if it is indeed found to be of significance.

The findings indicate that: 1) there is a clear connection between ideological affiliation and the violent activities of terror organizations; and 2) of the primary ideological affiliations motivating terror organizations (nationalist, communist, religious etc), religious ideology has the most extreme impact on group actions, influencing the tactics of violent activity and resulting in greater numbers of casualties. These findings are corroborated by additional tests controlling for region, religious affiliation, and time periods, further establishing the critical importance religious ideology has as an influence on the violent activity of terror organizations.