Dr Joshua Snider, distinguished faculty of UAE National Defence College, delivered an exclusive talk on “Preventing and countering violent extremism in the Indo-Pacific: Policy, programming and the challenge of capacity building.” Dr Arshi Saleem Hashmi, Professor at Peace and Conflict Studies, National Defence University, was the discussant. The discourse was part of Islamabad Policy Research Institute Distinguished Lecture Series. The distinguished scholar, who has immense experience in counter-terrorism studies, said that ‘Counter Violent Extremism’ is almost a science, and a durable solution to extremism literally depends on articulating political tools and an appropriate strategy to address revulsion.
Dr Snider’s scope of study was Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, as he dilated upon on extremism and terrorism tendencies in the region. He pointed out that nationalism is also a phenomenon in extremism, and state policies are reflective to such upheavals. He also remarked that national security and development priorities of member states mater a lot in defeating such insurgencies and unrest. This is why there is a chord between extremism and terrorism. Though the focus was on Islamist movements and the wayward activities of non-state actors, the debate was humbly graduated to list out the irritants in the socio-economic milieu of the region and beyond.
He said that counter violent extremism is a function of resources, i.e., political will and strategy. “Worth introspection where we lack. Prophylactic approach might be a way ahead,” Dr Joshua observed. Prevention is a political process and thus political engagement and people inclusivity will allow the state to have a successful CVE and CT strategy – and its ownership on all the levels is of utmost importance, he added. He also laid stress on resources, political will and planning (strategy) as the capacity forums in defeating terrorism and extremism.
For Pakistan, the counter terrorism (hard strategy) was easier to implement than Counter Violent Extremism, (softer strategies) and that’s why there needs to be more investment in long-term softer strategies for sustainable peace, Dr Arshi Saleem observed. With a case study on Indonesia, Dr Joshua, explained how terrorism mixed with struggles of secular nationalism versus what people wanted — the globalization of the religio-political ideology only added to these violent extremism. The influences across the region in extremism perspective flowed from the Afghan conflict, it was noted.
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