Damien Cheong (Post-Doctoral Fellow) contributed a commentary highlighting that in light of the reprisals and possible consequences of employing targeted assassinations as statecraft, states must carefully evaluate if their use actually minimises national security threats. From a military viewpoint, targeted assassinations are highly effective in reducing national security threats. However, when a broader view of national security is taken, the answer is not as apparent.

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In an article about the rehabilitation efforts for Jemaah Islamiah detainees in Singapore, A/P Kumar Ramakrishna was quoted as saying that “the high number of detainees deemed to have been successfully rehabilitated shows the effectiveness of Singapore's counter-ideological programme.”

Engage ex-detainees to counter extremism
The Straits Times (p. A40), 7 January 2012

A/P Kumar Ramakrishna contributed his commentary on the issue of engaging rehabilitated former JI detainees in the counter-ideological effort as part of counter-terrorism strategy. Regarding this matter, he opined that while moderate scholars must continue to exercise overall strategic control and direction of the counter-ideological programme, the judicious use of carefully selected willing former detainees could potentially enhance the programme.

Seminar reports of the following CENS Public Seminars are now available.

The Current and Future Status of Al Qaeda and Associated Movements: Implications for Southeast Asia
Speaker: Thomas Sanderson (Deputy Director & Senior Fellow of Transnational Threats Project, CSIS)
Date: 1 November 2011
Venue: Marina Mandarin Hotel

» click here to download the report (PDF)

Public Lecture by CENS Distinguished Visiting Fellow Dr. Steven Corman
1. Challenges and Opportunities of Social Media for Strategic Communication (20 Sep 2011)
2. A 21st Century Model for Strategic Communication (27 Sep 2011)
3. The Role of Narrative in Strategic Communication (29 Sep 2011)
4. Communication Strategies to Counter Extremist Ideology (30 Sep 2011)

» click here to download the report (PDF)

Title: Resilience and National Security (p. 57-60)
Author: Norman Vasu, Yolanda Chin, and Yeap Suyin
Date: June 2011
Published by: School of Humanities and Social Sciences, NTU
Description: This booklet is a collection of think pieces based on a two-day workshop - “Resilience: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue” – which took place in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) in Nanyang Technological Univerity on 8-9 June 2011. CENS staff who participated in this event contributed a think piece on the concept of resilience within the national security domain. This booklet represents the distilled thinking of the participants particularly with regard to three resilience themes: resilience and spatial and temporal scales; resilience and governance; and resilience trade-offs.

» to view the booklet, click here

Indonesia’s relentless jihadists
TODAY, 1 Oct 2011

Assoc Prof Bilveer Singh (Acting Head, CENS) in his article wrote about Indonesia being the repeated target of jihadi bombings since 2000. Recently, a bomb was found near a church in Ambon followed by a suicide bombing attack inside a church in Solo on 25 Sept, sparking fears of sectarian violence in the region. He said that Indonesia demonstrates the great success of jihadi leaders in recruiting followers, including those who are willing to die in the process. While suicide bombing is a new phenomenon, many factors explain the continuous flow of jihadists in Indonesia. Studies show that jihadists are not born. There is a process, a designed transformation of individuals into 'killing machines'. Essentially, Prof Singh opined that jihadists are grievance-ridden individuals who resort to violence to achieve their goals.

» click here to read the article