"Islamic fundamentalism was not the main driver of terrorism in Western countries: 80% of lone wolf deaths were by political extremists, nationalists, racial and religious supremacists".
It came after Thomas Piketty, the French economist and author, argued that financial inequality was a major driver of terrorism, although his "high inequality" model put the US on similar levels to the Middle East.
This, in turn, would have a positive effect on the drivers of conflict, terrorism and migration.
The new argument, which Piketty spelled out recently in the French newspaper Le Monde, is this: Inequality is a major driver of Middle Eastern terrorism, including the Isis attacks on Paris earlier this month — and Western nations have themselves largely to blame for that inequality.
This didn't prevent a new wave of research during the War on Terror, but despite overblown claims by some investigators, little evidence has emerged to suggest mental health problems are a significant driver of Islamist terrorism.
AIDS in particular was seen as a proxy for the cause of potential state fragility in the developing world, which in turn was conceptualized as the main driver of global terrorism.
While many regional government actors will eventually adapt to it, the drivers of extremism and terrorism have received a seismic boost, the consequence of which will be felt for many years to come.
But we do know that it has taken almost seven years for our government to convict Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Osama bin Laden's driver, of material support of terrorism.
The aim of terrorism is to terrorize.
