Asia-Pacific Social Science Review 9:2 (2009), pp. 89-92
BOOK REVIEW:
Bilveer Singh on the "Taliban" of Southeast Asia Singh, Bilveer. (2007). The Talibanization of South East Asia: Losing the War on Terror to Islamist Extremists. U.S.A.: Praeger Security International.
Reviewed by:
Salvado r Santino F. Regilme, Jr. University of Osnabrueck in Lower Saxony sregilme@uni-osnabrueck.de
Classified under the fields of social and political studies, this book is arguably the first published scholarly work after the 9/11 tragedy that comprehensively studies the genesis, socio-political motivations, nature of logistical resources and the extent of resources of Islamic terrorist groups in the South East Asian region. Singh, who laboriously examines a sizeable number of reliable and relevant o pen so urce int elligence and documents, historicizes the humble beginnings of Islamic fundamentalism, which was then a nationally- or domestically-based threat. He characterizes the current state of affairs of the region in terms of political and military security vis-a-vis the emerging regional intensification of threats caused by Islamic extremism. The scope of the themes and topics in the book is comprehensive. It includes a glossary of relevant terms in the Islamic culture; a chronology of significant events tracing the historical roots of the Al Jama’ah Al-Islamiyyah (AJAI); a substantive discussion of the conceptual nature of religionbased extremism and terrorism; Southeast Asian experience of old and new forms of jihadism; the emergence of the AJAI as the region’s foremost transnational terror group; and a critical analysis of counter-terror policies by state actors in the region. It is notable that Singh starts by clarifying the apparently perplexing conceptual relationship Copyright ©
among key ideas, such as fundamentalism, extremism and terrorism. Most probably intent on not being too simplistic in branding the members of the Islamic world, Singh highlights the fact that an Islamic fundamentalist is somebody who is wellversed in the Islamic tradition and law, albeit employing ultraorthodox interpretations and perspectives; and that if one does not use violence, he is definitely not and, therefore, should not be unjustly accused as a criminal. Meanwhile, Singh stresses that an individual who advocates terror and violence, aside from justifying one’s action with a fundamentalist and ultraorthodox interpretation of Islam, can already be considered as a terrorist. Corollary to this, in the context of the purported “Talibanization” phenomenon, terrorism thus means “the use of force to achieve political goals by mobilizing or referring to Islam as a source of justification” (p. 4). Such a resolution of “definitional abyss” (pp. 4-5) is critical in promoting a healthy discourse on the complex and highly politicized relationship of faith, religion, politics and war; wherein, it is always erroneously claimed that religion is always at the heart of most conflicts in a post-9/11 security environment. Singh contends that Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism are two distinct notions usually misconstrued by non-Muslins; this is also his way of reminding us to avoid unjust and wholesale
2009 De La Salle University, Philippines
90
ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW
stereotyping of Muslims. Thus, religion can be unjustly and instrumentally used to mask the legitimization of political violence, notwithstanding the fact that religion may be considered a neutral concept. Another notable insight from Singh is his historical exposition of pre-AJAI state-of-terror situation in the region where local terror groups struck. The extent of the threat was, however, only limited to a national level. In contrast, at present the threat level seems to be ‘regionalized’, if not globalized, as the goal of building a regionwide Islamic caliphate using political violence at all costs becomes nonnegotiable for the extremists. Notably, this prospect of an Islamic-fundamentalist way of governance in the region is part of the larger goal of institutionalizing a global Islamic caliphate. In relation to the politicization of certain socioeconomic dilemmas, Singh skilfully forges the link between religion and terrorism; and affirms that the insistent use of the former as the ideological foundation of the latter is critical in shaping a totally new security and political landscape in South East Asia. Though not as novel as it may seem, the author’s argument states that terrorism can be causally attributed to such factors as: the unreasonable politicization of socio-economic inequities; the incessant magnifying of issues of injustice; and the fortification of jihad ideology that aims to mobilize and to recruit adherents. Through historicizing, Singh warns that the pace of Talibanization in the region is occurring really fast; such observation being based on his study of the genesis of radical ideas t hat originated from the Middle East, and that were realized in Iran’s Islamic revolution and the mujahideen struggle in Afghanistan (p. 24). It is essential to take note, however, that in order for Singh to validly claim such an increased pace of Talibanizat io n, he has t o ut ilize vario us quantitative and qualitative studies that compare pre- and post- 9/11 regional dynamics in terms of such factors as: the number of casualties involved in Islamic terror-related incidents; the membership pool of key extremist groups; and other variables that would relate to the bolstering
VOL. 9 NO. 2
of extremist groups in South East Asia in various historical periods. In the section that describes the old and new forms of Islamic extremism in the region, Singh’s unique contribution is his firm affirmation that different country-based extremist groups in the region, such as the first extremist leaders in Indonesia, Philippines and even in Malaysia, were trained in Middle Eastern territories where the AJAI engaged in capacity-building activities not only to strengthen their cadres but also to discover and to imbibe the wahhabi-salafi orientation of the group. Such an ideological framework, imported by South East Asian extremists from their intensive training and exposure in Middle Eastern extremism, includes the following precepts: (1) establishment of a global Islamic caliphate; (2) adoption of Sharia governance; (3) upholding of violence to defend Islam from threats (p. 78). Singh’s effort to outline the beginnings of extremism in Asia is groundbreaking as this is arg uably t he first scho larly wo rk t hat comprehensively substantiates regional extremism not only from an organizational development perspective, but also through an in-depth exposition of the ideological origins of Islamic fundamentalism unjustly used to rationalize terrorism which is deemed necessary to build a region-based caliphate. As described by the author, extremism in South East Asia is quite threatening as it can be depicted as the “terrorist tribe cemented by kinship”; individual families become embedded within the cell-system of the AJAI. Moreover, Singh also exposes for the first time the cut-off system of the terror groups in the region based on a “need-toknow” principle” (p. 83); such practice makes it difficult for authorities to immediately wipe out these terror groups since identification of other members from another “cell” is completely not possible. Moreover, affiliation with terror groups is not purely based on a transaction-based relationship; rather it is embedded within the substructure of a familial values-system whereby those who cooperate with the terror group also encourage other family members to be prospective terrorists or, at the very
BOOKREVIEW
least, to contribute to the success of the extremist cause. The research of Singh that led him to this discovery is a principal contribution, not only to the various academic endeavours of the social sciences, but also, on a more practical note, to those in law enforcement, intelligence and policy networks and communities. On top of a lot of insightful and useful findings of the author, one has to be reminded of the central thesis of the work, which is that South East Asian governments have to closely and intensely collaborate, more than ever, with one another and other actors in and beyond the region, which is on the verge of “losing the war on terror to Islamist extremists”. Starting from the fact that the AJAI is the first regional terrorist organization in South East Asia, Singh reasonably cautions the readers that the region is rapidly being Talibanized. This assumption is primarily reinforced by the extraordinary ability of the AJAI to coordinate the efforts of various religious extremist groups in the region and even outsiders, including their likeminded fellows in Pakistan, Afghanistan or even Al-Qaeda. Taking into account such a warning, the current security environment in the region is dramatically different as compared to the pre-9/ 11 state of affairs, and thus, this requires a paradigmatic shift as well in the policy framework of relevant government and intergovernmental institutions. In view of the idea that the rise of AJAI can be equated to opening up a Pandora’s box of security problems in South East Asia, as thoroughly described by Singh, there are still other interesting topics that have yet to be explored and researched. Such topics include the following: country studies of various institutional restructuring initiatives undertaken by the government as a result of the 9/ 11 crisis; different “soft power” policy approaches that can be done both by intergovernmental and governmental institutions to undermine the Islamic extremist rhetoric; a comparative historical and political study of Islamic extremism and moderate groups; promotion of good governance and development initiatives in South East Asian territories beleaguered by Islamic terror groups;
REGILME, JR., S.S.
91
the normative role and the stake of key non-South Est Asian actors, such as: China, the European Union countries,, the United States and Australia, in ensuring collaboration with regional actors to address security problems resulting from the growth of the AJAI; and a theoretical study of the prospect of institutionalizing a region-wide or global Islamic caliphate. Considered a pioneering work in the emerging research agenda of post- 9/11 terrorism studies, Singh’s Talibanization of SouthEast Asia is indeed remarkable in stimulating interest in examining the growth and nature of Islamic terrorism, not in the first front of the United States’ War on Terror which is now being fought in the Middle East; but rather from the perspective of somebody considerably knowledgeable in the post- 9/11 security environment in South East Asia, now famously branded as the second front of the war. The apocalyptic scenario of a region-wide Islamic caliphate through the efforts of the AJAI is already warning enough from Singh. It should lead to an immediat e, well-planned and wellcoordinated series of “soft” and “hard” power policy responses that are not only technically feasible, in terms of undermining the fast pace of Talibanization, but also socially desirable, so as not to further antagonize those people who might have strong tendencies to take up arms because of the jihad rhetoric. Alt ho ugh much o f t he Unit ed St at es’ concentrated ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power resources are being channelled to the Middle East and South Asia, Singh is successful in highlighting the importance of studying South East Asia; the ultimate goal of significant Islamic extremist groups such as the AJAI is to build a region-wide Islamic caliphate that has a socio-legal system fundamentally based on an extreme form of Islamic scriptural orthodoxy. Such a grim scenario ultimately necessitates the eventual obliteration of democratic institutions – advocating freedom, human rights, universal political participation and reasonable secularism. These are all indispensable and critically important to attain a relative political and economic success, such as that enjoyed by key countries in the region,
92
ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW
like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines. For sure, such a gloomy scenario coming from Singh is enough to motivate policymakers to take action against the spread of Islamic extremism; we cannot afford to have a region, once known to be the hub of moderate and peaceful Islam, transformed into an Islamic extremistoriginated caliphate, devoid of democratic and secular values of utmost importance to the relative stability being enjoyed by key countries in South East Asia.
VOL. 9 NO. 2