Conflict and Non-traditional Security

Political Violence and Terrorism
In 2006, the School’s International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) headed by Dr Rohan Gunaratna upgraded its Global Pathfinder, one of the largest counter-terrorism databases in the world. The upgrade allows for a more user-friendly interface for the clients. ICPVTR is also in the process of adding additional search templates to better organise the existing information, and to sharpen the focus in an ever-changing threat environment. The upgrade also included improved report writing and social-network analysis capabilities. The Centre also worked with the University of Pittsburgh, one of the world’s leading centres in social-network analysis, to conduct training for its analysts on this powerful tool. In 2007, the Centre will add three new elements to the database. These are the counter terrorism contact database, audio-visual database and a counter terrorism finance database.

In 2006, ICPVTR hosted a number of closed door meetings with its international partners. Together with the New Scotland Yard’s National Terrorist Finance Investigation Unit, it conducted a joint course on counter-terrorism financial investigation. With regional participation, a second course was conducted with the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), Prime Minister’s Office, Australia. Together with the US State Department’s Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, ICPVTR also hosted an international conference on the terrorist threat in Southeast Asia. Together with the Center for Eurasian Policy, The Hudson Institute, ICPVTR hosted an international workshop on the terrorist and extremist networks in the Asian region. Towards the end of the year, it collaborated with the National Library Board and the Simon Wiesenthal Center to conduct a conference on Digital Terrorism. In 2006, the Centre gave more than 70 briefings to local and foreign visitors, as well as continued its innovative capacity- building, training and secondment programme.

As terrorists and extremists emerge from the community in which they live, the ICPVTR popularised the phrase “Communities Defeat Terrorism” in Singapore. To educate the people, ICPVTR worked closely with its partners in organising a counter terrorism exhibition. ICPVTR staff also gave lectures at several schools and community centres. They also contributed appreciably to two significant programmes. First, Mr Mohamed Bin Ali, also the Secretary of the Religious Rehabilitation Group, wrote the principal manual for the rehabilitation of Jemaah Islamiyah members. Second, Centre staff contributed to the Community Engagement Programme. Much of the critical thinking for these two successful projects was conducted within ICPVTR.

As a part of its policy-oriented analysis, ICPVTR proposed the self-regulation of madaris, regulation of madaris by the Muslim councils, and law enforcement action against the preachers of hatred. ICPVTR staff formally and informally educated Muslim communities in the region about terrorist and extremist infiltration. Mr Muhammad Haniff Bin Hassan, an ICPVTR analyst, wrote a point-by-point Koranic rebuttal to Imam Samudra’s justification for the Bali bombing. His book was published both in English and in Bahasa Indonesia in 2006.

ICPVTR has emerged as a truly international centre. Its two dozen staff speak a dozen languages and represent ten different countries from four continents. The range of experiences contribute to the richness of the analysis and the range of products developed by the Centre. One of the truly innovative programmes is the bringing together of threat specialists through a secondment programme. ICPVTR officially launched its off-shore counter-terrorism capacity-building programme with the opening of the Centre for Conflict and Peace Studies (CAPS) in Kabul, Afghanistan, in July 2006. ICPVTR has attached one of its staff to CAPS to assist in developing the research agenda, as well as to help establish the administrative infrastructure.

In 2006, ICPVTR expanded its intake of counter terrorism analysts. Its student analysts included Hekmat Karzai, a cousin of the Afghan

President, Noor Huda Ismail, a graduate of Pondok Pesantaran al Mukmeen, Major Dinn Ampatuan, the Head of Muslim Affairs of the Philippines military and Crystal Schautz, an analyst with the Military Commission at Guantanamo Bay. ICPVTR also trained several officers from New York Police Department, the police in Hong Kong, the police in New South Wales, the military in South Korea, and officials from Brunei. The first Ph.D. graduate based in the Centre, Adam Dolnik, was appointed as the head of research development at Wollongong University’s Transnational Crime Centre.

Further information on the ICPVTR Programme is available at its website.

Homeland Security
The Strategic Framework for National Security, published by the National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS), Prime Minister’s Office, in August 2004 outlined the key structures, security measures and capability development programmes that would help Singapore deal with the emergent threat of transnational terrorism in the near and long term. The Strategic Framework, among other issues, emphasized that strategizing national security policies requires greater research into and understanding of the evolving security landscape and how terrorist threats and actions could affect policy recommendations. It was decided to set up a new Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) at RSIS, to help build up the intellectual capital needed to support NSCS’ strategic objectives.

CENS was formally inaugurated on 29 March 2006 by Professor S. Jayakumar, the Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security. It commenced operations on 1 April 2006 with Associate Professor Kumar Ramakrishna as the Acting Head. Dr Ramakrishna oversees the work of three senior researchers who run the three CENS research programmes: Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning, Social Resilience Programme, and Transportation Security. CENS also includes four other junior researchers and corporate support staff.

Since its inauguration, CENS has been preparing policy-oriented analytical commentaries, as well as op-ed pieces published in the Straits Times as well as foreign newspapers. In addition, CENS Outlook, a short analysis of emerging security threats, vulnerabilities and trends, is published once a week, while CENS staff members have also published longer academic book chapters. In order to tap into global best practices in national security management, CENS has sought to foster networking opportunities with both local national security agencies and

foreign think tanks. In 2006, CENS hosted two Distinguished CENS Visitors: Mr Dave Snowden, a cognitive scientist researching into “sense-making” methods and concepts; and Mr Michael Moodie, an expert on weapons of mass destruction. CENS has also sought to fulfill its public outreach function in several ways. CENS staff members have participated in local and international media interviews, lectured to diverse local and foreign audiences on national security issues, and moderated public seminars on relevant topics such as religious extremism.

In 2006 CENS organised a number of highly focused half-day workshops and seminars, in particular on risk assessment and horizon scanning. In addition, CENS organised a major workshop on social resilience in Singapore in July 2006 and published the proceedings as a conference report.

Non-traditional Security
The Non-traditional Security Programme coordinated by Dr Mely Caballero-Anthony had a fruitful

and eventful year. In March 2006, it hosted the 2nd Regional Plenary Ford Meeting, which brought together the 11 Ford Grantee Institutes in Asia that work on Non-traditional Security (NTS). A key event during this meeting was the launching of the book, Studying Non-Traditional Security in Asia: Trends and Issues. The Ford Foundation Representative for China, Professor Andrew Watson, noted that the book highlighted many levels at which NTS could operate on and underlined the potential for an Asian regional research agenda. He added that the book could provide new debates on NTS issues and give a solid basis on which to promote collaboration and outreach.

Shortly after the Plenary Ford Meeting, the Consortium on Non-Traditional Security Studies in Asia (NTS-Asia) was established, with its Secretariat based at IDSS. With a pioneer network of 14 regional institutes and think tanks, NTS-Asia provides a platform to, firstly, further develop the process of networking among scholars and analysts working on NTS issues in the region; secondly, build long-term and sustainable regional capacity for research on NTS issues; and thirdly, to mainstream and advance the field of non-traditional security studies in Asia. It aims to do this via a series of activities: annual conventions, sub regional workshops, research fellowships and curriculum development. Moreover, with its production of a bimonthly newsletter (NTS-Asia) and fortnightly news bulletin (NTS-Alert), the Consortium hopes to keep its network members and other contacts up to date on its latest activities and NTS-related events around the world. The IDSS-NTS website has also been revamped to reflect the much broader remit of NTS-Asia.

Finally, the RSIS-NTS staff have also been active in several NTS-related activities:

20 August 2006: Professor Amitav Acharya, gave a talk on Asian regionalism at the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies (BIISS) in Dhaka;
21 August 2006: Professor Amitav Acharya presented the keynote paper on theoretical construct of securitisation at the inaugural session of the Dissemination Workshop on the project “Population Movements: Non-traditional Issues in the South Asian Security Discourse” ;
14-15 September 2006: Workshop on “Non Traditional Security in Asia” conducted by a RSIS-NTS team and organised by the Institute of International Relations, Vietnam; and

29 September 2006: NTS Programme Coordinator, Dr Mely Caballero-Anthony, presented a paper on NTS and New Multilateralism at the Conference on “East Asia in Transition: Comprehensive Security in the Pacific Rim” at the University of California, Berkeley.

Negotiation and Conflict Management
The Asian Programme on Negotiation and Conflict Management (APNCM) exists to enhance peace and security throughout Asia by improving the capacity of governments, organisations, and individuals to negotiate skillfully, to prevent and manage violent conflict, and to deal effectively with crisis situations. In 2006, APNCM began a collaborative research and capacity-building project with the United States Institute of Peace and the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue to support the new United Nations Office of Peacebuilding Support, at the request of United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, Carolyn McAskie. The Office of Peacebuilding Support is part of the same UN initiative behind the UN Peacebuilding Commission. APNCM is the leading organisation in the Asia-Pacific for this ongoing project of researching and cataloging the best literature, tools, and practices in the field of conflict mediation. The goal of the project is to design and deliver a practical curriculum that will support UN envoys and others mediating the world’s conflicts.

In addition to the UN support project, APNCM delivered another of its annual five-day executive workshops on Negotiation, Conflict Management, and Crisis Leadership to senior officers of the Ministry of Defence. The course included interactive seminars, video case-studies, and a day-long simulation of security negotiations in a peace process. The course has been well received, and more are planned for 2007. In addition to the MINDEF training, APNCM is working with the Singapore Police Force to organise a similar programme for 2007, and APNCM delivered its annual half-day Crisis Negotiation workshop during the Institute’s Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers in August.

APNCM continues to serve as an ongoing resource for those involved in the peace process in Sri Lanka and the Philippines (Mindanao) and for the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in the Middle East peace process.

Civil and Internal Conflicts
The Civil and Internal Conflicts Programme (CICP) coordinated by Dr Joseph Liow had an active year commissioning and conducting research into internal conflicts in Southeast Asia. The Programme examined alternative methodologies and frameworks for investigating intra-state security problems plaguing Southeast Asia and focused on holistic and long-term issues.

The primary area of research for the CICP has been the conflict in southern Thailand. To emphasise the need for a good understanding of dynamics on the ground, the CICP organised a workshop in Pattani on 30-31 October 2006. Titled “Peace Constituencies and Justice in Southern Thailand”, the workshop brought together local and international scholars as well as local community and religious leaders to discuss the impact of conflict on local communities and to propose ways out of the impasse from the perspective of the grassroots.

Dr Joseph Liow was invited to deliver a briefing to the House International Relations Committee, Washington, D.C., on 15 September 2006. Both he and Mr S. P. Harish, the Associate Research Fellow in the Programme, have been actively researching and publishing on the southern Thailand conflict, focusing attention on the religious dimensions of conflict, the presence (or absence) of international Jihadi elements, and prospects for conflict resolution. Products from this research include a major policy monograph published with the East-West Center, Washington, titled Muslim Resistance in Southern Thailand and Southern Philippines: Religion, Ideology, and Politics.

Dr Liow will also the Guest Editor of Asian Security, a major internationally-refereed journal on security issues in the Asian region, for a Special Issue on internal conflicts in Southeast Asia. This edition will be titled Internal Conflicts in Southeast Asia: The Nature, Legitimacy, and (Changing) Role of the State and is scheduled to be published in May 2007.

While the immediate research have focused on Southern Thailand, the Programme also has a broader mandate which it pursued with the organisation of a major international conference with the Hawaii-based Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies from 26-28 September 2006. Titled "Security Cooperation and Governance in Southeast Asia: Responding to Terrorism, Insurgency, and Separatist Violence in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines", the conference brought together international scholars and members of the policy community, primarily from the region and the United States, to discuss trends, implications, and possible resolutions to ongoing internal conflicts in Southeast Asia.