Discovering the Roots of Terror: Understanding the Relationship Between Terrorism and Corruption

This research investigated the relationship between terrorism and the factors of corruption, democracy, and human development by using a regression analysis with data collected from Vision of Humanity’s Global Terrorism Index (GTI), Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), and the Freedom House’s Global Freedom Scores. Based on previous research and other literature, it was hypothesized that corruption is a significant cause of terrorism. Using data from 2018 to 2022, 158 countries were included in the analysis. Expanding on the research, four case studies (Somalia, Israel, Liberia, and Georgia) were chosen to evaluate the countries’ anti-corruption practices. The regression was significant at the .95 level, showing that the data was statistically significant. R 2 = .049, meaning that 4.9% of the variance in terrorism is explained by corruption, democracy, and human development. Since R 2 = .049, it was concluded that some other factors influenced terrorism.