Terrorism is not a bunch of fanatics. It is an organized system that has permeated the global financial and economic system. Political scientist Yuri Bocharov explains how and why terrorist states exist today, in the Pravda.Ru video broadcast, in the author’s program “Incomprehensible Israel”.

– First, I will share a couple of numbers to make it clear what terrorism is today. According to the Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center (GTTAC), which tracks all terrorist attacks in the world...

In 2017, about 13.5 thousand various terrorist attacks were documented, where more than half were carried out by ISIS, Taliban, Al-Qaeda or their numerous offshoots around the world. Almost 34,700 people were killed in these attacks.

In 2023, through various anti-terrorism operations, 7,480 terrorist attacks were documented, resulting in nearly 23,119 deaths worldwide.

That means that during a year from 25 to 35 thousand people die from terrorism, which makes the question arise as to who pays the money for terrorism. 

 

The vast majority of terrorist organizations of any kind are ideology based. However, “war is war, and lunch is on schedule”, meaning that any revolutionary or terrorist struggle requires money, and a lot of it:

- to purchase equipment and weapons;

- to pay salaries of members of the organization.

What terrorists receive is not just salary, but also various benefits, bonuses, and even retirement pensions, making this a large expense item.

As global statistics show, the more money a terrorist organization has, the more active it is. If a terrorist organization loses its sources of income, it reduces the number of terrorist attacks.

 

 Presently there are about 150 terrorist organizations in existence globally, recognized as such by the EU, UN, USA, and a number of other countries. And almost all countries in the world have their own terrorists and their own terrorist organizations.

Who pays money for terrorism?

The first and most important source of money are states. Practice shows (and this is especially obvious in the Middle East) that sometimes the well-being of one state depends on the problems of its neighbors. The more problems your neighbors have, the better off you are. If your neighbors’ oil pipeline explodes, an oil processing plant stops, a railroad gets blown up and trains stop running, it means that the prices for the product have jumped somewhere. And if you have this product available, then you are, as they say, sit pretty. Whatever one may say, states are among the organizations that finance terrorism.

 

The second source is donations from ideological supporters from around the world. Terrorist organizations declare themselves to be ideological organizations that fight for certain ideas. Naturally, they have their own diaspora living in other countries of the world, and they raise donations from it. Moreover, if the diaspora suddenly does not want to pay, then guys with machine guns can always appear and hint that a business may burn down and therefore it is better to donate.

The third source is the criminal activities of terrorist organizations. They are involved in drugs and weapons trafficking and tobacco smuggling, human trafficking, robbery, and racketeering. Moreover, each group specializes in something of its own.

 

For example, Hezbollah has succeeded in the drug trade, arranging a powerful drug flow from our region to Europe. At the same time, it also tries to launder money earned from selling drugs in Europe with the help of European representatives and businessmen. As practice shows, many countries do not hesitate to trade with terrorists. At one time, ISIS, which occupied parts of Syria and Iraq and controlled oil fields, was selling oil for $40 per barrel. Many EU countries bought this oil because it cost $100 per barrel on the market. Several dozens of millions of dollars a day were put into ISIS's account. And it did not bother anyone.

 

In addition, another way for terrorist organizations to make money has emerged in the Middle East. It was found by Hamas.

Hamas began to invest the money obtained in various ways into business: it created dozens of construction and development organizations in the countries of the Middle East. According to the estimates by Arab experts and media, the annual income of these Hamas development organizations averages half a billion dollars a year.

Terrorist organizations that oversaw large territories and populations needed money not just for their regular terrorist activities, but also to support the social, religious, political and economic systems needed to govern and meet the needs of the populations under their control.