Material grievances a stronger breeding ground for extremism than political beliefs, researchers find

Material grievances—especially high youth unemployment—are a far greater breeding ground for extremism than religious or political beliefs. This is the conclusion of a major international study involving the Research Center Global Dynamics at Leipzig University. Researchers examined local and structural factors that foster extremist radicalization in 17 countries in the Balkans, the Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel region. The key findings have just been published in the book "Resisting Radicalization: Exploring the Nonoccurrence of Violent Extremism."