ICPVTR Webinar Series on Bali Bombings’ 20th Anniversary by Mrs Alissa Wahid, Director of GUSDURian Network Indonesia and Ms Amy Chew, Independent Journalist for Security and International Affairs, Former Senior Correspondent, Channel News Asia

About the Series

On 12 October 2002, the Bali bombings rocked Southeast Asia, taking 202 lives in what is considered the deadliest attack in the region. The attacks elevated the threat of Islamist terrorism and played a major role in shaping counter-terrorism (CT) efforts in the region. Twenty years later, two transnational groups, Al-Qaeda and Islamic State, continue to define the terrorist threat in Southeast Asia, whilst at the same time, local militant groups demonstrate a tenacious ability to adapt amidst a changing operational environment. In light of the 20th anniversary of the 2002 Bali Bombings, ICPVTR will be running a series of 3 webinars to assess the changes, continuities and trajectories of the terror threat in Southeast Asia.

The opening webinar lays the foundation for the series by delving into the core of the region’s terrorism landscape. The second webinar explores radicalisation drivers and considers the roles that ideology, gender and the online space play in terrorist recruitment. The third and final webinar analyses the complexities in balancing ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ approaches in CT policies in Southeast Asia and assesses how these approaches can mitigate emerging terror threats.

Abstract

This session will expound on the drivers of radicalisation in Southeast Asia and take stock of the changes, if any, to these impetuses in the intervening years since 2002. The extent to which ideology functions as a motivation for violent extremism will also be explored.

Since the Bali Bombings, as the wider society embraces digital technologies, so too have terrorist organisations. The webinar will thus look at the exploitation of online spaces, particularly social media, by terrorists for communication, propaganda, recruitment, planning and funding purposes.

Building off the above, the shifts in gender roles and relations within and across terrorist networks will also be examined, especially the role of women radicals. The possible reasons behind this latter phenomenon will be discussed, along with what bearing it may have on disengagement and deradicalisation efforts.

Speakers

Mrs Alissa Wahid is a trained psychologist well known for her active work in advocating democracy, diversity, interreligious cooperation and women’s empowerment in Indonesia. She is the co-founder of the Gusdurian Network Indonesia (GNI), a nationwide network of grassroots-level actors that promotes active citizenship, interfaith dialogue, human and minority rights, and religious moderation. She also serves on the executive and advisory boards of several state institutions, intergovernmental entities and civil society organisations, including the United Nations Interagency Task Force on Religion and Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Religious Affairs Indonesia and Nahdlatul Ulama, among others. Alissa was recently named to the list of Fortune Indonesia’s Most Powerful Women 2022.

Ms Amy Chew is an independent journalist who covers security and international affairs. Her recent highlights include an exclusive interview with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky. She has covered every major terror attack in Indonesia since 2000 and interviewed key figures in the region such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) leader al-Hajj Murad Ebrahim. A former senior correspondent with Channel News Asia (Singapore) and Reuters Jakarta, she is currently based in Kuala Lumpur and writes for Nikkei Asia. She has been based in and reported out of Indonesia, Hong Kong and Singapore, and travels widely for her reporting.