Professor of economics and public policy at Hebrew University, Claude Berrebi studies what does and does not cause terrorism. In 2019 after the Easter Sunday bombing in Sri Lanka killed 250 people, Claude coauthored the article, "Ending the Myth of the Poor Terrorist." The article explains that the terrorists responsible for the multiple simultaneous bombings of churches and hotels that day were all middle class, and well educated. This was not a fluke, either. Data shows that the majority of terrorists are not poor and downtrodden, but rather come from stable economic backgrounds and commit more attacks during good economic times.
In this episode Claude lays out the theories behind economics and terrorism and explains how the links between the two are quite counterintuitive before going on to discuss what he thinks can be done about Hamas in response to the October 7th attacks in Israel.
Note: I mention some of my own work in this episode. Here is a link to my book, "The Watchdogs Didn't Bark: CIA, NSA, and the Crimes of the War on Terror."
Here is a link to an interview I did of former White House Counterterrorism Advisor Richard Clarke with my colleague Ray.
Episode 5