Abstract: What is the relationship between terrorism and religious repression? Some argue that terrorism is a byproduct of state repression, especially religious repression, when it comes to Muslim majority countries (MMCs) and Islamist terrorism. Others contend that state repression – including repressive religious regulation – is a rational state strategy for combatting or mitigating terrorism. We ask whether the threat of terrorism is a smoke screen for states to justify increasing religious repression or a rational response to a security threat. We employ multiple empirical tests utilizing new data on religious regulation from three newly independent MMCs that have experienced both exposure to terrorism and increasing levels of religious repression since 1991 – Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan. Our preliminary conclusion is that religious repression has a life cycle such that even if states may initially be responding to a real or perceived threat of terrorism, it can accelerate for other reasons unrelated to terrorism.
