Radicalization
Terrorists aren’t always the economically downtrodden
Both Major Hasan and Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab came from middle or upper class families, suggesting extremists tend more often to be intellectuals with a grievance, concept, and desire for power. This challenges the theory that the radicalized lack better options.
Terror plot highlights problem of radicalism in UK
Charles Allen, a retired CIA officer and Bush intelligence chief at the Department of Homeland Security says “The British have an immense problem. There are more challenges in Muslim immigrants integrating into British society than there is in America, a lack of assimilation, a great deal of alienation.” He feels al-Qaida has worked much harder…
Radicalism in Yemen, al-Qaida, and Abdulmutallab
Attempted Nigerian terrorist Abdulmutallab told authorities he was the first of many al-Qaida linked terrorists in training in Yemen. The group al-Qaida in the Arabian Penninsula, comprised of Yemeni and Saudi operatives, claims the attack and cites recent US-backed airstrikes on Yemen as their motivation. A closer look into Yemen reveals a recent increase in…
Who is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab?
23-year old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempted to bomb a Northwest Airlines Flight en route from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day. Abdulmutallab was educated at an international British school in Lagos as a youth, and received a degree in engineering and business finance from University College London from 2005-08. His father was a banker…
An overview of religion and economics in Nigeria
Whether attempted Northwest Airlines bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was radicalized in Nigeria where he was raised, or the UK where he attended university, is so far unclear. This NPR interview with West Africa corespondent Ofeibea Quist-Arcton discusses Christianity, Islam, US-Nigeria relations, and radicalism in Nigeria, exploring the environment Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was brought up amidst.