The impact of socio-economic and fractionalization determinants on terrorism in ESNA

Abstract Terrorism and security threats are global phenomena. Almost every region has been affecting by different terrorism and violence incidents; that is why terrorism has become a devastatingly global concern for the past two decades. This paper examines the socio-economic and fractionalization (Internal and External conflicts) determinants of terrorism and its related incidents using the Global Terrorism Database for 14 countries of East, South, and North Asia (ESNA) from 2006 to 2018. By applying the one-step system GMM estimation, the results show that among ESNA, South Asia is the most vulnerable region where population and state legitimacy are the most ignite factors of terrorism incidents. However, in East and North Asia, the education budget's socio-economic disparity is the foremost determinant of terrorism and related antagonism. It also analyses that the fractionalization elite acts as a mechanism to ignite terrorism incidents in ESNA. It further revealed that State legitimacy, Fractionalization Elites, population growth, and budget allocation of health and education are the significant determinants of terrorism in ESNA. The study concludes that terrorism and its related activities have different trends depending on region to region, referencing study results. Furthermore, this study suggests that the United Nations and other governing bodies should play their role to resolve the socio-economic incongruence in ESNA and effective regional conflict resolution strategies to make it a peaceful and affluent region. In combating socio-economic disparities and conflicts, a prudent and effective regional policy should be enforced.