The study of religion holds great promise for the study of identity, institutional origins, the
state, and the strategies of institutional actors in comparative politics. Doctrinal differences …

Post-2003 civil wars are different from previous civil wars in three striking ways. First, most of
them are situated in Muslim-majority countries. Second, most of the rebel groups fighting …

In this paper, we provide a perspective into the main ideas and findings emerging from the
growing literature on motivated beliefs and reasoning. This perspective emphasizes that …

The economics of religion is a relatively new field of research in economics. This survey
serves two purposes—it is backward-looking in that it traces the historical and sociological …

This overview examines critically the post-9/11 empirical literature on terrorism. Major
contributions by both economists and political scientists are included. We focus on five main …

Applying fresh tools from economics to explain puzzling behaviors of religious radicals:
Muslim, Christian, and Jewish; violent and benign. How do radical religious sects run such …

Can rational models, once theological explanations are discredited, explain why certain
radical religious rebels are so successful in perpetrating suicide attacks? The fundamental …

I study the political impact of the first populist radio personality in American history. Father
Charles Coughlin blended populist demagoguery, anti-Semitism, and fascist sympathies to …

Why are some international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) more politically salient
than others, and why are some NGOs better able to influence the norms of human rights …

The number of radical Islamist groups fighting in civil wars in Muslim countries has steadily
grown over the last twenty years, with such groups outlasting and outperforming more …