I’ve put forth the theory (which I didn’t come up with on my own) that the main root cause of terrorism of the al-Qaeda variety is not poverty or even lack of dignity but rather the absence of outlets for legitimate political expression. A Harvard study seems to confirm that theory. Interestingly, the theory shows that the correlation is on a curve. The most free and most repressive societies experience the least terrorism. The fact that the countries with the most freedom tend not to suffer from terrorism is right in line with what I’ve thought, but the fact that the most repressive societies also suffer less from terrorism also makes sense. The government controls people’s lives to such an extent that they can’t really organize terror cells.