Think of the human population as a being analogous to a population of rats. When healthy rats are provided with enough resources, they will continue to reproduce. Now think they were confined to a certain amount of space, a large cage perhaps. It is safe to say that there will be critical density within the cage where resources runs short and the space may become overcrowded. In this case war breaks out. Humans can be said to act the same way.
Studies show that population growth in the Middle East seems to be complimentary to the evolution in terrorism. Terrorism thrives in specific cultural areas with high growth rates of the population, combined with the collectively degraded identity factors for those people. This is usually accompanied with low socioeconomic development. Coupled with environmental degradation these factors host acts of cultural deviance, frustration, and anger or resentment with individuals, hence snowballing into terrorism.
Though many factors lead up to acts of terrorism, fighting overpopulation may be a sufficient enough tactic to thwart future attacks. Slowing overpopulation would mean that resources wouldn’t be depleted so that people have to fight over them. The environment would be in a more stable condition and can have a positive impact on urban societies that face these issues. These simple yet life changing factors could really turn the future for human kind towards a hopeful prospect.
Overpopulation: A Thermodynamic Approach 