Militarism

 It is always extraordinary to me, that young individuals can engage in
terrorist acts that are extremely violent. And knowing one can reasonably expect to
die as a result. What can possibly motivate such behavior, because youth is all about
wanting to live, and enjoying life. So at a total lost for explanation, I have been
scanning the Web for I can find about the Sociology of War.

There isn't much in the public sphere, all being hidden under security studies and
the like. And these things are close to useless anyway, because they are so tinted with
the view that terrorism is a form of deviance (like drug-taking or prostitution). It can't be;
it is too linked with calls to action from ISIS, too eager to learn and evolve, too appealing to
otherwise solid young men.

Found one interesting document, about a university conference on militarism held in 1994.
Below, a quite insightful paragraph which defines militarism itself.

Michael Mann addressed the 50 conference participants with a talk entitled “A Macro-Sociological Approach to the History of War.” Mann focused on militarism, which he defined as “the persistent use of organized violence in pursuit of social goals,” as it related to the different development patterns of modern authoritarian and liberal states. He contended that militarism was central to the historical experience of both types of societies, while the inherently different material and ideological structures of each state determined the form which that militarism would take. Authoritarian states, such as Germany and Russia/Soviet Union display what he called “militarism of the neighborhood” because their security concerns resided almost totally on their immediate borders. As a result, they had large standing military establishments that were extremely visible in the lives of the domestic population. In contrast, Mann ascribed “militarism of the globe” to liberal states such as Britain, it former colonies, and the United States. Their militaries were generally stationed abroad and globally oriented, both removing the armed forces from daily contact with the population and engendering what Mann called “spectator sport militarism.”

I've referenced the entire article below. The analysis is dated, but the stance is objective an
insightful. What kind of militarism is jihadism; we think of terrorists as immigrants who should be
relieved to find themselves in a free society, but what is their experience of swimming with the
crowd in European Cities; and what reinforces their move into combat status for the jihadist
cause. We are far from having a grip on some of these issues.


http://tiss-nc.org/sociology-and-war/

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 http://www.liberation.fr/planete/2017/08/18/en-espagne-le-profil-type-des-apprentis-terroristes_1590728