Low level of education contributes to the radicalization of the Middle East

Arif Asalioglu, General Director of International Institute for the Development of Science Cooperation, began the discussion with an overview of the growth of radicalism and terrorist activity in North Africa and the Middle East, which constitute a serious threat to the continued existence of the regions themselves and their neighbors.

Asalioglu drew attention to the strong ground of modern terrorism, which created not only social base, but also the oppositional one. In 2014 the world watched a significant increase of terrorist activity, in particular, of Al Qaeda, ISIS, Hezbollah and Hamas. Most of the peoples in the Middle East were under extremist actions. Radical organizations in the region also unite about 20-30 thousand citizens from Europe and Asia.

The scholar mentioned a number of historical reasons, which contributed to a sharp rise of terrorist organizations:

- Civil war in Lebanon and the invasion of Israel;
- Conflicts in the Balkans in 1990s;
- Foreign invasion in Afghanistan and Iraq;
- Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979;
- Success of counter-revolutionary forces after 2011.

In addition, Asalioglu outlined other reasons - political, socio-economic, religious, etc .:

- Lack of political authority and security systems;
- Low level of education;
- Religious conflicts;
- Strengthening of political Islamic movements;
- Rise of nationalism;
- Weakening of the social functions of the state;
- Unfair policies and the lack of rule of law;
- Disregard by the religious leaders of the political and social aspects.