Suchergebnisse

This article argues that it is not Buddhism, per se, but rather Buddhist extremism, that is responsible for violence against relevant out-groups. Moreover, it suggests that the causes of Buddhist extremism, rather than being determined solely by textual and scriptural justifications for out-group violence, are rooted instead in the intersection between social psychology and theology, rather than organically arising from the latter, per se. This article unpacks this argument by a deeper exploration of Theravada Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka. It argues that religious extremism, including its Buddhist variant, is best understood as a fundamentalist belief system that justifies structural violence against relevant out-groups. A total of seven of the core characteristics of the religious extremist are identified and employed to better grasp how Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka manifests itself on the ground. These are: the fixation with maintaining identity supremacy ; in-group bias ; out-group prejudice ; emphasis on preserving in-group purity via avoidance of commingling with the out-group ; low integrative complexity expressed in binary thinking ; dangerous speech in both soft- and hard-modes ; and finally, the quest for political power, by force if needed. Future research could, inter alia, explore how these seven characteristics also adequately describe other types of religious extremism.

The recent SingHealth hack and the fake news phenomenon are likely harbingers of an emergent inflection point in contemporary war: CyWar. The aim of CyWar is to secure command of a State's "hard" and "soft" cyberspace. It behooves States to be ready to cope with the rising CyWar challenge.

"On 17 April 2020, eleven soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) were killed during a battle with 40 fighters of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in Patikul town, in the Sulu region of Mindanao, southern Philippines. The ASG had apparently ambushed the troops during the latter's operations aimed at tracking down two senior ASG figures, Radullan Sahiron and Hatib Sawadjaan-the leader of the Philippine branch of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) global terror network. The firefight between the pro-ISIS ASG and the AFP forces was apparently the bloodiest in months. This encounter occurred in the midst of the worldwide novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak that had not spared the southern Philippines as well. A government spokesperson acknowledged the strain on the armed forces, who were on "the forefront as the government's arm to prevent the spread of the dreaded disease on the one hand", while simultaneously engaged in "battling this terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group""--

Drawing upon insights from the natural and social sciences, this book puts forth the provocative new argument that the violent Islamist threat in Indonesia today derives its stubborn resilience from being in essence a complex, adaptive and self-organizing system - or what some specialists might even call a super-organism. The book challenges the popular assumption that ideology causes Indonesian Islamists to radicalize into violent extremism. In addition it addresses why, despite years of intense security-force pressure, seemingly disparate militant cells keep 'popping up' like the heads of the proverbial Hydra, and why in the apparent absence of a centralized coordinating body, they nevertheless appear to display an organic interconnectivity with one another. Going beyond standard ideological mantras, the book argues that fresh inter-disciplinary thinking is needed to deal with the constantly mutating violent Islamist challenge in Indonesia, and puts forward a comprehensive strategy for doing so. It will be of interest to academics and students of terrorism, religion and violence in the Southeast Asian region

This book explores why some Muslims turn to violent jihad in the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia. This book explores two of the most crucial areas of the war on terror - why some Muslims turn to violent jihad, and that process in the world's most populous Muslim nation, Indonesia. The recent history of terrorism in Indonesia has brought this country into the world spotlight: the Bali night club bombing by Islamists in 2002 was one of the worst terrorist attacks in history. The violence, unfortunately, continues: in 2008, radicalized Indonesian Islamic clerics have called for holy war against their compatriots who belong to the despised Ahmadiya sect (a group that believes there was another prophet after Muhammad). Written by an Indonesian native and expert in Indonesian security, "Radical Pathways" uncovers the reasons why this island nation is a hotbed of Islamic radicalism. -- Publisher description

Shanthie Mariet D'Souza (Ed.), Countering Insurgencies and Violent Extremism in South and Southeast Asia. London and New York: Routledge, 2019. 376 pp., ISBN 9781138615557.

This article argues that it is not Buddhism, per se, but rather Buddhist extremism, that is responsible for violence against relevant out-groups. Moreover, it suggests that the causes of Buddhist extremism, rather than being determined solely by textual and scriptural justifications for out-group violence, are rooted instead in the intersection between social psychology and theology, rather than organically arising from the latter, per se. This article unpacks this argument by a deeper exploration of Theravada Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka. It argues that religious extremism, including its Buddhist variant, is best understood as a fundamentalist belief system that justifies structural violence against relevant out-groups. A total of seven of the core characteristics of the religious extremist are identified and employed to better grasp how Buddhist extremism in Sri Lanka manifests itself on the ground. These are: the fixation with maintaining identity supremacy; in-group bias; out-group prejudice; emphasis on preserving in-group purity via avoidance of commingling with the out-group; low integrative complexity expressed in binary thinking; dangerous speech in both soft-and hard-modes; and finally, the quest for political power, by force if needed. Future research could, inter alia, explore how these seven characteristics also adequately describe other types of religious extremism. ; Published version

This essay examines the radicalization into violent extremism of a former Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) militant named Abu Hamdie. It first explores the violent Islamist ASG milieu within which he found himself embedded. Second, it examines how his experiences within a strategic node of the violent Islamist ecosystem in Marawi, the Darul Imam Shafii religious boarding school, facilitated his own radicalization. The essay finally suggests three broad lessons that may be learned from the specific Abu Hamdie radicalization experience for the ongoing struggle against violent extremism in post-Marawi Mindanao: first, the ideological ecosystem of Islamist extremism of which Darul Imam Shafii was an important node must be dismantled; second, the role of long-standing Bangsamoro socio-political and historical grievances must be urgently addressed by the Philippine authorities and third, the increasingly pervasive influence of puritanical Wahhabi ideas, that have rendered impressionable young people susceptible to violent extremist ideological narratives, needs countering.

On 29 August 2012, a rehabilitated former senior member of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror network, Wan Min Wan Mat, delivered a lecture to a group of Malaysian counter-terrorism practitioners in which he sketched out the ideological rationale and aims of the JI network, unpacked in some detail its recruitment and indoctrination philosophy and methodology and also examined what in his personal view are potentially useful strategies for rehabilitating JI militants or preventing the further dissemination of JI extremist ideas. This article examines and evaluates some of the key insights made by Wan Min in his lecture, and argues that his musings are more than mere historical interest in that they have direct relevance to the current struggle against the latest incarnation of the continually evolving violent jihadist threat in Southeast Asia and globally, namely the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or IS). The central reason for this is that the same broad ideology that animated JI - Salafi Jihadism - basically motivates ISIS as well. Hence, even allowing for dissimilarities in time and space, Wan Min's insights about JI could well provide useful pointers for counter-terrorism practitioners and specialists dealing with the ISIS threat today. (Contemp Southeast Asia/GIGA)