Pakistan Education Systems and the Radical Islamic Jihadist Ideology

This thesis addresses the overarching question of whether or not Pakistan's education system significantly affects the spread of the jihadist ideology. The thesis continues to address how to affect the spread of the jihadist ideology, and how U.S. national policy can successfully moderate the spread through policy initiatives. The thesis addresses these issues by first determining whether credible links exist between education in Pakistan and the spread of radical Islamic jihadism. This analysis includes an examination of religious educational systems (madrassas)--both moderate and radical--and both public and private sector educational institutions. Next, the analysis determines if U.S. national policy can affect the propagation of the jihadist ideology through policy initiatives. Finally, the thesis discerns what feasible, acceptable and suitable ways exist to influence the spread of this ideology through US policy initiatives. This thesis demonstrated that the overall quality and availability of education in Pakistan is poor. The deteriorating education system has radicalized many young people and failed to prepare them to function in a global capacity. This thesis concludes by emphasizing that if US policy initiatives focus counterterrorism efforts on mitigating the vulnerabilities of educational systems governed by the Islamic state of Pakistan--which this thesis has demonstrated are linked to the propagation of the jihadist ideology--the breeding grounds for radical jihadism will prove far less fertile, and Islamic terrorism will prove far less threatening.