Eli Berman
Encyclopedia
Eli Berman is the Research Director for International Security Studies at the UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation
and since 2010 a Professor of economics at UC San Diego. He is known for his work applying rational choice analysis
to the behaviour of radical religious groups.
, the same way that firms are vulnerable to workers stealing trade secrets, or just shirking on the job." He further argues that the economics of religion can provide explanations for the way in which "radical religious communities organize mechanisms to control defection in order to successfully conduct mutual aid—which they tend to be quite effective at."
Using Laurence Iannaccone
’s theory of strict religious clubs (see club good
theory), Berman argues that successful radical religious groups, such as Hamas
, Hezbollah, Lashkar-e-Taiba
, Mahdi Army
and the Taliban, excel at providing social services to their members, while simultaneously filtering out “free riders
”; Berman calls these movements “some of the most accomplished rebels of modern times.” He further argues that the success of groups such as Hamas and al-Qaeda
are more due to the their organizational structures than their theology. By way of counter example he examines the case of the militant Jewish organisation Gush Emunim Underground
, which ultimately over-reached its ability to sustain a group without defections, by carrying out attacks on civilians while neglecting to induce the necessary loyalty in its members and political base through various welfare measures. (Previous low-level violent vigilante activity, argues Berman, had been treated as a public good by Gush Emunim
settlers.)
Many commentators assume that people willing to join extremist groups are irrational, motivated only by extreme hate or abstract ideas of rewards in the afterlife. Contrary to these notions, Berman says that radical religious groups are rational in their selection of tactics. Berman does not see a dichotomy between insurgent
s and terrorists. He argues that they all belong to a single category he calls “rebels”, and who, according to Berman, use a variety of techniques, depending on the circumstances, with suicide bombing being merely one end of the spectrum.
Berman does not ascribe suicidal terrorist acts to fanaticism or desperation, but instead he argues that these tactics are used "when the terrorist group begins to encounter hard targets, like American military bases, that are impervious to everything else." To support this thesis, Berman gives the Taliban as an example of a group that switched from traditional guerrilla-warfare
techniques they used against the Northern Alliance
to suicide bombings used against the Americans and other Westerners, as the only means, Berman argues, to make a significant impact against their new and more technologically advanced adversaries.
Berman argues that "Islamic fundamentalism
" is a misnomer when applied to modern movements, and he prefers the term "Radical Islam", reasoning that many post-1920s movements starting with The Muslim Brotherhood
, practice "unprecedented extremism", thus not qualifying as a return to historic fundamentals. He also approves of scholarship that argues that "the sanctification of political violence as Jihad
by radical
Islam is a recent phenomenon, a break with mainstream Muslim theology".
Berman attributes the birth of the Taliban movement to a phenomenon that long preceded the birth of modern radical Islam. He writes that the Taliban are a direct descendant of the nineteenth-century Deobandi
movement in India, which opposed the British colonial rule and, among other things, established a system of religious schools.
In his 2009 book, Berman writes that "four radical religious organizations, Hezbollah, Hamas, the
Taliban, and the Mahdi Army, continue to surprise established militaries
with both their resilience and their lethality." He credits the Hezbollah for being those "who invented the modern high-casualty suicide attack in Lebanon in 1982". Berman's book seeks to address the question: "Why are religious radicals, who often start out appearing benign and charitable and generally avoid conflict, so effective at violence when they choose to engage in it?" Previously, Berman drew other parallels between Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban:
Berman argued that such parallels were common to other radical religious groups.
. Studying full-time Yeshiva
students, who Berman finds study until 40 years old on average, and whose families have 7.6 children per woman (in the mid 1990s), he concludes that "Subsidies induce dramatic reductions in labor supply and unparalleled increases in fertility." In a 2000 NBER paper, Berman describes Ultra-Orthodox Jews as "a fascinating and fast-growing sect which has held virtual veto power over [Israeli] public policy for more than two decades."
does not reduce insurgency-related violence. In an interview, Berman explains the findings as "insurgencies are very small organizations which need very few fighters to keep them going, and are often not constrained by a lack of recruits—and even if they were there’s nothing to stop young men from working by day and planting roadside bombs by night."
, Canada. He describes his parents as "middle-of-the-road North American Jews." In 1981, Berman became an Israeli citizen
. He then participated in the 1982 Lebanon War
. Berman is now a US citizen.
. He graduated with bachelor's degree in computer science and economics in 1987, and in 1989 obtained a master's in economics from the same university. He then obtained a PhD from Harvard University
in 1993; his adviser was Zvi Griliches
. After graduation from Harvard, Berman became an assistant professor at Boston University
. He moved to UCSD in 2003.
UC Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation
The University of California Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation is a multicampus research organization based at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, San Diego, California. The institute, founded in 1983 by Dr. Herbert York, researches issues relating to international...
and since 2010 a Professor of economics at UC San Diego. He is known for his work applying rational choice analysis
Rational choice theory
Rational choice theory, also known as choice theory or rational action theory, is a framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior. It is the main theoretical paradigm in the currently-dominant school of microeconomics...
to the behaviour of radical religious groups.
On violent radical religious groups
Berman argues that economics can provide a significant insight into the vulnerabilities of radical and terrorist organizations, although not only because of the common assumption that cutting their funding is key to their defeat. Instead Berman says that "terrorist organizations are terribly vulnerable to defectionDefection
In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state or political entity in exchange for allegiance to another. More broadly, it involves abandoning a person, cause or doctrine to whom or to which one is bound by some tie, as of allegiance or duty.This term is also applied,...
, the same way that firms are vulnerable to workers stealing trade secrets, or just shirking on the job." He further argues that the economics of religion can provide explanations for the way in which "radical religious communities organize mechanisms to control defection in order to successfully conduct mutual aid—which they tend to be quite effective at."
Using Laurence Iannaccone
Laurence Iannaccone
Laurence R. Iannaccone is a Professor of Economics at Chapman University, Orange County, California. Before moving to Chapman in 2009 he was a Koch Professor of Economics at George Mason University...
’s theory of strict religious clubs (see club good
Club good
Club goods are a type of good in economics, sometimes classified as a subtype of public goods that are excludable but non-rivalrous, at least until reaching a point where congestion occurs...
theory), Berman argues that successful radical religious groups, such as Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
, Hezbollah, Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Lashkar-e-Taiba – also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, Lashkar-i-Taiba, Lashkar Taiba or LeT – is one of the largest and most active militant Islamist terrorist organizations in South Asia, operating mainly from Pakistan.It was founded by Hafiz Muhammad...
, Mahdi Army
Mahdi Army
The Mahdi Army, also known as the Mahdi Militia or Jaish al-Mahdi , was an Iraqi paramilitary force created by the Iraqi Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in June 2003....
and the Taliban, excel at providing social services to their members, while simultaneously filtering out “free riders
Free rider problem
In economics, collective bargaining, psychology, and political science, a free rider is someone who consumes a resource without paying for it, or pays less than the full cost. The free rider problem is the question of how to limit free riding...
”; Berman calls these movements “some of the most accomplished rebels of modern times.” He further argues that the success of groups such as Hamas and al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda
Al-Qaeda is a global broad-based militant Islamist terrorist organization founded by Osama bin Laden sometime between August 1988 and late 1989. It operates as a network comprising both a multinational, stateless army and a radical Sunni Muslim movement calling for global Jihad...
are more due to the their organizational structures than their theology. By way of counter example he examines the case of the militant Jewish organisation Gush Emunim Underground
Gush Emunim Underground
The Jewish Underground was a militant organization formed by prominent members of the Israeli political movement Gush Emunim that existed from 1979 to 1984. The group's highest profile plot was to destroy the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem....
, which ultimately over-reached its ability to sustain a group without defections, by carrying out attacks on civilians while neglecting to induce the necessary loyalty in its members and political base through various welfare measures. (Previous low-level violent vigilante activity, argues Berman, had been treated as a public good by Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim
Gush Emunim was an Israeli messianic and political movement committed to establishing Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While not formally established as an organization until 1974 in the wake of the Yom Kippur War, Gush Emunim sprang out of the conquests of the Six-Day War in 1967, encouraging...
settlers.)
Many commentators assume that people willing to join extremist groups are irrational, motivated only by extreme hate or abstract ideas of rewards in the afterlife. Contrary to these notions, Berman says that radical religious groups are rational in their selection of tactics. Berman does not see a dichotomy between insurgent
Insurgent
Insurgent, insurgents or insurgency can refer to:* The act of insurgency-Specific insurgencies:* Iraqi insurgency, uprising in Iraq* Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, uprising in India* Insurgency in North-East India...
s and terrorists. He argues that they all belong to a single category he calls “rebels”, and who, according to Berman, use a variety of techniques, depending on the circumstances, with suicide bombing being merely one end of the spectrum.
Berman does not ascribe suicidal terrorist acts to fanaticism or desperation, but instead he argues that these tactics are used "when the terrorist group begins to encounter hard targets, like American military bases, that are impervious to everything else." To support this thesis, Berman gives the Taliban as an example of a group that switched from traditional guerrilla-warfare
Guerrilla warfare
Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare and refers to conflicts in which a small group of combatants including, but not limited to, armed civilians use military tactics, such as ambushes, sabotage, raids, the element of surprise, and extraordinary mobility to harass a larger and...
techniques they used against the Northern Alliance
Northern Alliance
The Afghan Northern Alliance is a military-political umbrella organization created by the Islamic State of Afghanistan in 1996.Northern Alliance may also refer to:*Northern Alliance , a Canadian white supremacist group...
to suicide bombings used against the Americans and other Westerners, as the only means, Berman argues, to make a significant impact against their new and more technologically advanced adversaries.
Berman argues that "Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism
Islamic fundamentalism is a term used to describe religious ideologies seen as advocating a return to the "fundamentals" of Islam: the Quran and the Sunnah. Definitions of the term vary. According to Christine L...
" is a misnomer when applied to modern movements, and he prefers the term "Radical Islam", reasoning that many post-1920s movements starting with The Muslim Brotherhood
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers is the world's oldest and one of the largest Islamist parties, and is the largest political opposition organization in many Arab states. It was founded in 1928 in Egypt by the Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna and by the late 1940s had an...
, practice "unprecedented extremism", thus not qualifying as a return to historic fundamentals. He also approves of scholarship that argues that "the sanctification of political violence as Jihad
Jihad
Jihad , an Islamic term, is a religious duty of Muslims. In Arabic, the word jihād translates as a noun meaning "struggle". Jihad appears 41 times in the Quran and frequently in the idiomatic expression "striving in the way of God ". A person engaged in jihad is called a mujahid; the plural is...
by radical
Islam is a recent phenomenon, a break with mainstream Muslim theology".
Berman attributes the birth of the Taliban movement to a phenomenon that long preceded the birth of modern radical Islam. He writes that the Taliban are a direct descendant of the nineteenth-century Deobandi
Deobandi
Deobandi is a movement of Sunni Islam. The movement began at Darul Uloom Deoband in Deoband, India, where its foundation was laid on 30 May 1866.-History:...
movement in India, which opposed the British colonial rule and, among other things, established a system of religious schools.
In his 2009 book, Berman writes that "four radical religious organizations, Hezbollah, Hamas, the
Taliban, and the Mahdi Army, continue to surprise established militaries
with both their resilience and their lethality." He credits the Hezbollah for being those "who invented the modern high-casualty suicide attack in Lebanon in 1982". Berman's book seeks to address the question: "Why are religious radicals, who often start out appearing benign and charitable and generally avoid conflict, so effective at violence when they choose to engage in it?" Previously, Berman drew other parallels between Hamas, Hezbollah and the Taliban:
All three formed from affiliates of venerable nonviolent radical Islamic organizations, Hamas from the [Muslim Brotherhood] and the Taliban from the Jamiat-e-Ulema-Islam (JUI) in Pakistan, and Hezbollah from the clerical culture of the Shia holy cities in Iraq and Iran. All three movements arose in environments with weak local public good provision by government and responded by providing local public goods. Each developed into extremely effective insurgent organizations which produced specific local public goods (security) using violence. All three received generous subsidies from abroad, whether for geopolitical reasons, out of ideology, or in return for services. Younger members undergo some costly personal sacrifice in the case of the Taliban and Hamas (we know less about initiation of Hezbollah fighters). All three groups changed their ideologies drastically: Hamas in choosing armed conflict, the Taliban in deciding to protect Bin Laden and Hezbollah in shifting from a rebellion against Israeli occupation to an ethnic militia/political party after Israel’s withdrawal from South Lebanon in 2000. There are differences: Hamas view most Palestinians as potential members, as Hezbollah regard Lebanese Shia, while the Taliban treated most Afghans as a conquered people. Yet the common elements, and especially the common puzzles, seem to justify analysis in parallel.
Berman argued that such parallels were common to other radical religious groups.
On Ultra-orthodox religious groups
Berman has also done field work among ultra-orthodox religious groups in IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. Studying full-time Yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
students, who Berman finds study until 40 years old on average, and whose families have 7.6 children per woman (in the mid 1990s), he concludes that "Subsidies induce dramatic reductions in labor supply and unparalleled increases in fertility." In a 2000 NBER paper, Berman describes Ultra-Orthodox Jews as "a fascinating and fast-growing sect which has held virtual veto power over [Israeli] public policy for more than two decades."
On the relationship between unemployment and insurgency
Berman's NBER paper Do Working Men Rebel?, co-authored with Joseph Felter and Jacob N. Shapiro, drew the counterintuitive conclusion that reducing unemploymentUnemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
does not reduce insurgency-related violence. In an interview, Berman explains the findings as "insurgencies are very small organizations which need very few fighters to keep them going, and are often not constrained by a lack of recruits—and even if they were there’s nothing to stop young men from working by day and planting roadside bombs by night."
Personal life
Berman was born in OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
, Canada. He describes his parents as "middle-of-the-road North American Jews." In 1981, Berman became an Israeli citizen
Law of Return
The Law of Return is Israeli legislation, passed on 5 July 1950, that gives Jews the right of return and settlement in Israel and gain citizenship...
. He then participated in the 1982 Lebanon War
1982 Lebanon War
The 1982 Lebanon War , , called Operation Peace for Galilee by Israel, and later known in Israel as the Lebanon War and First Lebanon War, began on 6 June 1982, when the Israel Defense Forces invaded southern Lebanon...
. Berman is now a US citizen.
Education and academic career
After leaving the Israeli Defence Force in 1985, Berman studied at the Hebrew University of JerusalemHebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
. He graduated with bachelor's degree in computer science and economics in 1987, and in 1989 obtained a master's in economics from the same university. He then obtained a PhD from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in 1993; his adviser was Zvi Griliches
Zvi Griliches
Hirsh Zvi Griliches was an economist at Harvard University. He was born in Kaunas, Lithuania in an assimilated Jewish family that spoke Russian at home. During World War II he was sent to the Dachau concentration camp...
. After graduation from Harvard, Berman became an assistant professor at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
. He moved to UCSD in 2003.
Publications
- “Religion, Terrorism and Public Goods: Testing the Club Model,” (with David Laitin), Journal of Public Economics 92(10-11), 1942–1967, (2008).
- “Religious Extremism: the good, the bad and the deadly,” (with Laurence R. Iannaccone), Public Choice, 128(1-2), 109-129, (2006).
- “Is Skill-Biased Technological Change Here Yet: Evidence from Indian Manufacturing in the 1990s,” Annales d’Economie et de Statistique 79/80, 2006.
- “Language-Skill Complementarity: Estimated Returns to Immigrant Language Acquisition,” (with Kevin Lang and Erez Siniver), Labour Economics, 10 (3), (June 2003) 265-290.
- “Environmental Regulation and Productivity: Evidence from Oil Refineries,” (with Linda Bui), Review of Economics and Statistics, August 2001.
- “Environmental Regulation and Labor Demand: Evidence from the South Coast Air BasinSouth Coast Air BasinThe South Coast Air Basin is one of several geopolitical areas designated by the state of California, U.S., for the purpose of air quality management. An air basin is associated with a ring or partial ring of mountains that in the absence of winds holds air and smog within the area...
,” (with Linda Bui), Journal of Public Economics, February 2001.
Further reading
- Leonard Stern (May 29, 2010) Terrorist do-gooders, The Ottawa Citizen
- Aziz Huq (04/22/10) Book Brief: Do Religious Organizations Enable Terrorists?, Brennan Center for JusticeBrennan Center for JusticeThe Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School is a non-partisan public policy and law institute that focuses on issues involving democracy and justice...
- Devin Leonard, (February 6, 2010) Terrorism and the Pocketbook, New York Times
- Andrew LeighAndrew LeighAndrew Keith Leigh is an Australian politician and former professor of economics at the Australian National University. He has been a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2010, representing the Canberra seat of Fraser. In 2011, Andrew was awarded the Economic Society of...
(January 19, 2010) The Economics of Terrorism, Core Economics (economics.com.au) republishing his same day op-ed What Makes Martyrs Tick, from The Australian Financial ReviewThe Australian Financial ReviewThe Australian Financial Review is a leading business and finance newspaper in Australia.Fairfax Media publishes it in a compact format six days a week, Monday to Saturday.... - David Lehman, Rational Choice and the Sociology of Religion, chapter 8 in Bryan S. TurnerBryan S. Turner (sociologist)Bryan S. Turner is a British and Australian sociologist . He was born in January 1945 to working class parents in Birmingham, England. Turner has led a remarkably nomadic life having held university appointments in England, Scotland, Australia, Germany, Holland, Singapore and the United States...
(ed.) The New Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Religion, John Wiley and Sons, 2010, ISBN 1405188529
External links
- Berman's home page
- Official web site for his book and free 1st chapter Podcast interview with Berman