World Bank report on Islamist terror: "Poverty is not a driver of radicalization into violent extremism"

On October 5, 2016, the World Bank released its economic report on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, "Economic and Social Inclusion to Prevent Violent Extremism." The report includes an analysis of the socioeconomic factors which might lead recruits to join the Islamic State. It includes the following:

"We find that Daesh [the Islamic State] did not recruit its foreign workforce among the poor and less educated, but rather the opposite. Instead, the lack of economic inclusion seems to explain the extent of radicalization into violent extremism... [F]oreign recruits from the Middle East, North Africa and South and East Asia are significantly more educated than what is typical in their region... The proportions of administrators but also of suicide fighters increase with education...

An important finding is that these individuals are far from being uneducated or illiterate. Most claim to have attended secondary school and a large fraction have gone on to study at university...

[P]overty is not a driver of radicalization into violent extremism..."