The Environment Conducive to Terrorism: Explaining Compound Fragility in State, Society, and Geopolitical Interactions

Abstract

This study examines the concept of the terrorism-supportive environment from a political-sociological perspective, based on the assumption that terrorism does not emerge from a single cause but rather results from the interaction of political, social, identity-based, regional, international, and digital factors. The study aims to analyze the structural determinants that generate violent extremism and to explain how state fragility, societal crises, and geopolitical transformations contribute to the reproduction of environments conducive to terrorism.

The study employs a structural-explanatory approach and draws upon the theories of fragile states, relative deprivation, and social disorganization to investigate the relationship between declining political legitimacy, social marginalization, identity-based divisions, regional conflicts, and international interventions on the one hand, and the growth of extremist organizations on the other. It also explores the impact of external interventions, proxy wars, the political economy of conflict, and digital globalization on the internationalization of terrorism-supportive environments.

The findings indicate that terrorism-supportive environments emerge from a condition of “compound fragility,” in which state weakness intersects with social fragmentation, regional conflicts, international interventions, and digital transformations. Extremist organizations exploit political and security vacuums, identity crises, social exclusion, and transnational networks to sustain their activities and reproduce violence. The study concludes that countering terrorism requires a comprehensive approach that goes beyond traditional security measures and addresses the structural, political, and socio-economic conditions that foster violent extremism.