Two New Studies on Islamism in Southeast Asia
By Zeyno Baran
The Hudson Institute, where I am a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Eurasian Policy, just published two recent papers by scholars from the Singapore-based S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (formerly called the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)), dealing with Islamism in Southeast Asia.
Terrorism in Southeast Asia: Threat and Response by the distinguished expert Rohan Gunaratna, gives an overview of the transformation of terrorist groups active in Southeast Asia. He also argues that these groups are increasing their cooperation with each other and with those in the Middle East. In fact, he states, the regional groups are no longer driven by primarily local politics or grievances, but rather by global concerns, particularly the war in Iraq.
In his study, The Bali Bombings: Impact on Indonesia and Southeast Asia, Arabinda Acharya discusses the Bali bombings, which he considered to be the “most notable event in the history of Southeast Asian extremism.” He discusses Imam Samudra’s justification of the Bali bombings, which he discussed in a best-selling book in Indonesia. Acharya believes that the Bali bombings led to the fragmentation of the Jemaah Islamiya. At the same time, the bombings also popularized the notion of an ongoing transnational jihad, and thereby increased radicalization among Southeast Asian Muslims.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://counterterrorismblog.org/mt/pings.cgi/3517
