Islam, State, and Terrorism: A Quantitative Analysis

This study explores the impact of state approaches to Islam on the occurrence of religious terrorism in Muslim-majority countries. Focusing on the period from 2007 to 2018, it analyzes how three distinct modes of Islam-state relations—secular repression, Islamism, and religious freedom—influence terrorist activity. The statistical findings indicate that Islamist political theologies are associated with increased levels of terrorism, whereas political theologies grounded in religious freedom are linked to reduced terrorist activity. In contrast, secular repression appears to have no significant effect on terrorism. These results remain consistent across multiple model specifications and robustness checks.