Islamist Terrorism and Militancy in Indonesia The Power of the Manichean Mindset

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.