Last week, the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) hosted the East Asia Summit on Religious Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration. Supported by the Singaporean government through the Nanyang Technological University, the summit gathered some 600 delegates (religious leaders and scholars, security and law enforcement officials, psychologists, policy makers, academics and civil society leaders from 30 countries).

In East Asia, Singapore has been at the forefront of strategic thinking on how to address radicalization. As RSIS leaders maintain, “strategic foresight remains the cornerstone of an effective security strategy.”

They added: “The volatile and evolving threat landscape amid an integrated and interconnected world continues to be at the forefront of the security challenge faced by countries all over the world. These global developments have had an appreciable impact on the global security paradigm.

… Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, head of the International Centre for Political Violence andTerrorism Research (ICPVTR) at the RSIS noted that there were more than 10,000 terrorist-related Facebook accounts, 47,000 Twitter accounts and more than 9,800 Web sites. He stressed that counter-messaging should include “a point-by-point rebuttal of [ISIS’] justifications for using violence,” adding that we should “specifically question, show me in the Koran that this is permitted.”

… Ambassador Ong Keng Yong, RSIS‘ executive deputy chairman, called for collaboration among those involved in countering violent radical movements such as ISIL. He said, “challenges that we have here cannot be done and solved by only one person and one country”. Ong stressed the need for communication among those working to counter extremism as well as engaging the wider community in such efforts.