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Abstract: After the 1991 Paris Peace Agreement, Cambodia set about the difficult process of state-building. Despite violent clashes in 1997-98, the Cambodian government has been largely successful in establishing full control of military forces, into which former Khmer Rouge soldiers have been reintegrated. The Cambodian government, with support of donors, successfully improved infrastructure throughout the country, built up capacity in key state institutions, and provided basic public services to the people. Behind these achievements was assistance from a grassroots network built by the Cambodian People‟s Party in the 1980s. This network is characterized by patronage connections between the government and village chiefs, and between the latter and villagers. Consequently, the legitimacy of the state has been strengthened. In contrast, social empowerment has been delayed, and people's political rights and freedoms have been restricted by the state. As shown by the recent increase of corruption charges and land tenure disputes, the imbalance between the powerful state and a stunted civil society is a potential factor of instability.
Abstract: The Philippine government is experimenting with a creative
but risky strategy to bring peace to Mindanao. It has three
goals: demonstrate that good governance in the Autonomous
Region of Muslim Mindanao is possible through
a two-year reform program; bring separate discussions
with two insurgencies, the Moro National Liberation Front and the much larger, better-armed Moro Islamic
Liberation Front together; and hammer out the
territory and powers of a future Moro “sub-state” in peace
talks with the MILF. Until now, the government has not
made clear how the three components fit together, but it
may reveal its hand – at least in part – in mid-August 2011,
when it is widely expected to present a new proposal to
the MILF. After President Benigno S. “Noynoy” Aquino III
took office in June 2010, he said that resolving the conflict
in Mindanao was a priority, and the current occupants of
the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process are determined to find the formula for peace that
eluded their predecessors. The idea of “convergence” is
the result.
While many aspects are unclear, the thinking may run something
like this: A 2008 agreement with the MILF broke
down just before the final signing because of concerns in
Manila about Philippine sovereignty and among non-MILF
groups – both Christian and Muslim – in Mindanao about
protecting their political and economic interests. The Aquino
government knows the same could happen again unless the
sceptics are on board. It has postponed scheduled elections
in the ARMM and seems to believe that if it handpicks who
will run the region for the next two years, it could be possible
to clean it up in a way that proves autonomy need not
be synonymous with corruption, poverty and private armies.
At the same time, positions within the ARMM could
be used as sweeteners to entice members of the MNLF, who
are unhappy that their own 1996 peace agreement was never
fully implemented, to cooperate. The government also hopes
that Muslim civil society organisations can help push the
MILF and MNLF onto one negotiating track.
Abstract: The Asia Foundation commissioned a study in August 2010 to examine the dynamics of gender and conflict
in Mindanao. Leslie Dwyer and Rufa Guiam conducted field-based research and a literature review
to identify challenges and opportunities for women and men in community and national peacebuilding.
Their report argues that programming is more effective when comprehensive gender analysis is utilized,
and that such an approach can be transformative in societies trying to emerge from conflict.
Abstract: In November 2009, the massacre of 57 people in the
province of Maguindanao in Mindanao garnered
global attention. Directed by the politically powerful
Ampatuan clan, against the family members of
their political rivals, the Mangudadatu, many of the
individuals accused of participating in the massacre
belonged to Civilian Volunteer Organizations - CVOs -
controlled by the Ampatuans. Such CVOs
were recruited and funded by the local government
units - LGUs - which form a core part of the country’s
national security policy. Despite the fact that
they were under the control of the LGUs they had
come to effectively serve as the private army of the
Ampatuans.
This was a graphic example of an everyday
phenomenon in Mindanao where private armies,
militia, "civilian defense forces" and vigilante forces
have become indistinguishable. The Philippines is
marked by weak and fragmented public security
which is dominated by lethal clan rivalries, dynastic
politics and underdevelopment. Weak and poorly
implemented gun laws mean weapons are readily
available and often used. Militia have evolved to be
actors in armed violence and violent conflict across
Mindanao, particularly Muslim Mindanao which
is predominantly the focus of this report.
Abstract: This report details strong evidence of military involvement in seven killings and three enforced disappearances of leftist activists since President Benigno Aquino III took office on June 30, 2010.
Abstract: The decades-old conflict in Mindanao, southern Philippines, is often framed as a Muslim–
Christian conflict and reinterpreted as such within the US-led global war on terror, with the
Muslim secessionist movement standing accused of providing a hub for international jihad.
In the meantime, global economic integration has made it easier to ignore the agrarian roots
of violent conflict in Mindanao, enabling national and sub-national actors, including the
international community and the Muslim or Moro separatists, to dismiss the issue of
agrarian justice. We counter these arguments by using an agrarian political economy
framework to uncover the roots of resilient violence in Mindanao, using historical narratives
of the region from the end of the nineteenth century that accentuate the links between
state-making, control of land and labour, and processes of agrarian modernization. We
emphasize the critical role played by the Muslim landed elites who shaped processes of
state-making by brokering the interests of their clans with exogenous actors at the national
and international level.We shed light on emerging state policies and competing interests
among other landed and agribusiness elites that resulted in the spread of a parallel
underground economy, renewing opportunities for violence and crime within semiautonomous
social worlds.
Abstract: Russia and Mexico, two of the world’s most murderous countries for the press, are heading in different directions in combating deadly anti-press violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index. The index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country’s population, found improvement in Russia as journalist murders ebbed and prosecutors obtained two high-profile convictions. But deadly anti-press violence continued to climb in Mexico, where authorities appear powerless in bringing killers to justice.
Colombia continued a years-long pattern of improvement, CPJ’s index found, while conditions in Bangladesh reflected a slight upturn. But the countries at the top of the index—Iraq, Somalia, and the Philippines—showed either no improvement or even worsening records. Iraq, with an impunity rating three times worse than that of any other nation, is ranked first for the fourth straight year. Although crossfire and other conflict-related deaths have dropped in Iraq in recent years, the targeted killings of journalists spiked in 2010.
“The findings of the 2011 Impunity Index lay bare the stark choices that governments face: Either address the issue of violence against journalists head-on or see murders continue and self-censorship spread,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “Convictions in Russia are a hopeful sign after years of indifference and denial. But Mexico’s situation is deeply troubling, with violence spiking as the government promises action but fails to deliver.”
CPJ’s annual Impunity Index, first published in 2008, identifies countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. For this latest index, CPJ examined journalist murders that occurred between January 1, 2001 through December 31, 2010, and that remain unsolved. Only the 13 nations with five or more unsolved cases are included on the index. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained.
Impunity is a key indicator in assessing levels of press freedom and free expression in nations worldwide. CPJ research shows that deadly, unpunished violence against journalists often leads to vast self-censorship in the rest of the press corps. From Somalia to Mexico, CPJ has found that journalists avoid sensitive topics, leave the profession, or flee their homeland to escape violent retribution.
Abstract: This report collects statistics from a variety of sources on casualties sustained during Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), which began on October 7, 2001, and is ongoing. OEF actions take place primarily in Afghanistan; however, OEF casualties also includes American casualties in Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Guantanamo Bay (Cuba), Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Seychelles, Sudan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Yemen. Casualty data of U.S. military forces are compiled by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), as tallied from the agency's press releases. Also included are statistics on those wounded but not killed.
Because the estimates of Afghan casualties contained in this report are based on varying time periods and have been created using different methodologies, readers should exercise caution when using them and should look to them as guideposts rather than as statements of fact. This report will be updated as needed.
Abstract: Over the past decade, there has been growing international momentum to conceptualise, document and
address the various manifestations of “armed violence”. To date the discourse has focused largely on the
causes and effects of armed violence and explored the range of available programming options to prevent
and reduce it. Discussions on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) currently underway in the United Nations
(UN) provide an important opportunity to examine armed violence in the context of decisions concerning
international transfers and the export and import of conventional arms used in armed violence.
One of the objectives of the ATT is to address the “absence of common international standards on the
import, export and transfer of conventional arms.” As the UN General Assembly has noted, this absence
contributes to “conflict, displacement of people, crime and terrorism” thereby undermining peace,
reconciliation, safety, security, stability and sustainable development.” In other words, the absence of such
common international standards contributes to armed violence.
This report is divided into two parts, and includes three case studies drawn from recent examples of armed
violence in Bangladesh, Guatemala and the Philippines. Part I examines how an ATT with a clearly elaborated
risk assessment process can make a contribution to the prevention and reduction of armed violence. Part II focuses on one form of armed violence: firearms-related homicide. Discussions of armed violence
have repeatedly noted that the use of firearms in non-conflict settings is the most prevalent form of armed
violence and the form that results in the most deaths and injuries. This fact underscores the importance of
adopting an approach to addressing armed violence that will encompass violence outside of armed conflict
settings.
Abstract: The Philippine government is unable to control and develop large parts of the country because of the longstanding communist insurgency. The conflict has lasted more than 40 years and killed tens of thousands of combatants and civilians. Planning their attacks and securing weapons and funds locally, the insurgents have strong roots in the different regions where they operate and have proved hard to defeat. The government’s counter-insurgency strategy has diminished their numbers but has not been able to destroy the organisation. Neither side will win militarily. As peace negotiations resume under the Benigno Aquino administration, the parties to the talks should immediately commit to making existing human rights monitoring mechanisms work, while they try to reach the more difficult long-term goal of a durable political settlement.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its New People’s Army (NPA) launched their armed struggle against the Philippine government in 1968. The organisation was strongest in the 1980s, as the repressive government of Ferdinand Marcos fell and was replaced by the Cory Aquino administration. The insurgency had become a social movement, with an array of above-ground groups intertwined with an underground guerrilla army. Counter-insurgency operations coupled with an internal split crippled the organisation and cost it many of its supporters in the early 1990s. By 2000, the CPP-NPA had regained strength and has since proved remarkably resilient. It remains active in mountainous and neglected areas countrywide. Without altering its communist ideology, the organisation set up political parties that successfully stood for congress and re-engaged in peace negotiations with Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s government. Talks fell apart in 2004, and the Philippine military intensified operations against the guerrillas but failed to wipe them out by June 2010, when President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino was sworn into office.
The NPA has fewer than 5,000 fighters, but it still has supporters and is recruiting new members, securing weapons and launching ambushes across the archipelago. It justifies its actions, including extrajudicial killings of “enemies of the people”, in ideological terms. The NPA remains a serious threat to soldiers, police and anyone it considers a military informant or collaborator, even though recruitment of highly educated cadres is difficult and crucial mid-level commanders are hard to replace. Hundreds die in the conflict every year, including more than 350 NPA regulars and government security forces in 2010.
Abstract: The people of Mindanao in the Southern Philippines have been suffering the effects of violent
conflict for over 30 years, at a cost of at least 120,000 dead, and the displacement of an estimated
two million people. There have been peace agreements, in particular the agreement between the
Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Moro National Liberation Front
(MNLF) in 1996, but these agreements have failed to secure a lasting peace. Indeed, the evidence
points to an increase in violence following the 1996 settlement.
This paper sets out a case that explains why there is ‘so much conflict in the post-conflict moment’.
It argues that at the core of the problem is the exclusionary political economy that is developed and
sustained through a complex system of contest and violence. Rebellion-related violence relating to
the vertical armed challenges against the infrastructure of the state combines with inter- or intraclan
and group violence relating to horizontal armed challenges between and among families,
clans, and tribes. These two types of conflict interact in ways that are poorly understood and
which sustain conditions serving the interests of those with access to economic and political
power and exclude the majority of those in Mindanao from opportunities to improve their lives.
The authors argue that the region’s underdevelopment can no longer be ascribed solely to the
colonial and post-colonial exploitation of the region and discrimination towards Muslims and
indigenous people, but must also be connected to the shifting balance of economic and political
power within Bangsamoro society itself.
Abstract: The landmine stands out as the bleakest surviving symbol
of obsolescence and incongruity between human creativity and humanity. It had been a device
intended as a passive defensive implement for security.
However, war and peace in this day and age is so vastly different from decades ago. War and
peace center on ethno-central, ultra-nationalism – it is about freedom, self-determination
rather than about conquest. Military tactics have long departed from inflicting the most damage
– now, it is achieving very precise objectives with a minimum of damage. Special care for
civilians is a paramount parameter, the greatest limitation on the use of any force, passive or
active.
Yet the landmines remain, carrying with them the detached cruelty of indiscriminate carnage,
a consequence acceptable only in bygone eras. It is no longer justified for its original purpose
of passive security – it has become a killer unmindful of war and peace, uncaring of combatants
or civilians, humans or animals.
The Geneva Call Report of its Verification Mission to the Philippines to Investigate Allegations
of Landmines use by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is in itself a very tangible reminder of
how far forward humanity has gone. The Report is not just a referee's report on rule violations,
but a representation of the critical role of Non-State Actors (NSAs) in achieving peace.
It suggests that there is no fiction of law, international or domestic, that is more compelling
than the voluntary adherence and participation of involved parties, under a standard of moral
uprightness, the real basis for lasting peace. It represents that there is no political objective
that justifies the bloodiest of Machiavellian ends, be it that of the State or the NSA. Finally, it
represents a wave of agreement, on a far larger scale that now includes NSAs, that the use of
landmines is grotesquely inconsistent with any human purpose.
Abstract: This report covers the period from January
2008 until June 2010, and attempts to distill the
information Geneva Call and its numerous local
partners have collected on humanitarian mine
action in areas where the organization works,
specifically in locations where armed NSAs that
have signed the Deed of Commitment operate.
As such, the reader will find information on
landmine issues in parts of the world that do not
often get much attention.
Cognizant also of the fact that each of Geneva
Call’s signatories to the Deed of Commitment
was once a non-signatory, it is useful to examine
examples of armed NSAs Geneva Call currently
engages and whose position concerning AP
mines is evolving.
In each of the cases presented below,
NSAs, though not yet willing to commit to
the mine ban, are actively involved in humanitarian
mine action in some form, at times
independently, at others with the assistance
of international mine action agencies.
Abstract: We know little about what NSAs themselves
think about the protection of children in armed
conflict. How do they see their role? What challenges
do they face? How do they perceive and react to
international mechanisms? This publication not only
takes an initial step towards answering these questions,
but it also provides examples of good practices
that can help other NSAs better protect children
and thereby meet their international obligations. It
is clear that NSAs are part of the problem. The focus
here is on how they may be part of the solution.
Contributions come from NSAs which operate in Africa,
Asia, and the Middle East. Four of the contributing
NSAs are listed as violators in the annexes to the 2010
Report of the Secretary-General on Children and
Armed Conflict (Armée populaire pour la restauration
de la République et la démocratie (APRD), Justice
and Equality Movement (JEM), Karen National Union
/Karen National Liberation Army (KNU/KNLA), and
Moro Islamic Liberation Front/Bangsamoro Islamic
Armed Forces (MILF/BIAF). One has entered into an
Action Plan with the relevant UN Country Team (MILF/
BIAF).
Abstract: This paper examines the peace process in Mindanao, Philippines, situating it within broader national and international political economies. The paper argues that the root causes of the conflict can be found in the long-term processes of state formation and capital penetration in the region which have resulted in the displacement and marginalization of the indigenous groups of Mindanao under consecutive Spanish, American, and independent Philippines control. Examining the peace process within this context, it argues that mainstream approaches to peace processes that focus on particular “actors” (e.g. spoilers, third party interventions) and “technologies” (e.g. commitment mechanisms) provide some insights into the failure to achieve a lasting peace in the region, but that a full explanation requires consideration of two further issues. Firstly, formal peace processes are often embedded within wider developmental programmes and the tensions and interactions within this broader dynamic are important to understand. In Mindanao, while the formal peace process has moved towards explicitly addressing root concerns of the local population, the wider “peace through development” package promoted by the international community is, in fact, exacerbating many of the economic tensions behind the conflict. Secondly, in localized conflict such as Mindanao, it is important to examine the peace process within the broader political context of the country in question. In the Philippines, opposition to the peace settlement has, in recent times, been used for political opportunism by opposition forces at the national level. Similarly, for incumbent presidents, a return to militaristic solutions and associated nationalist agenda has been used as a way to shore up popular support in the rest of the country, undermining moves towards peace.
Abstract: The
desk study on “The use of medical evidence
and expert opinions in international and
regional judicial mechanism and in selected
domestic jurisdictions” aims to provide an
insight into how medical evidence is viewed
and evaluated in court proceedings on alleged
torture cases today. The study looks
into the procedural rules as well as the
practice relating to evaluation of medical
evidence and expert opinions by the relevant
tribunals. The special issue further features
studies on investigations and evidence collection
in selected domestic jurisdictions
in torture cases. These studies have been
conducted in five countries from different
regions and with differing legal systems –
Ecuador, Georgia, Lebanon, The Philippines
and Uganda. In these countries the IRCT
has, for a number of years, worked with
local members and partners to promote the
value and use of medical documentation of
torture.
Our hope is that the study may serve
as a reference document for those involved
in legal cases seeking to prove allegations
of torture through the submission of medical
evidence or wishing to advocate legal
changes in this area.
Abstract: Community-driven development (or CDD) projects are now a major component of World Bank assistance to many developing countries. While varying greatly in size and form, such projects aim to ensure that communities have substantive control in deciding how project funds should be used. Giving beneficiaries the power to manage project resources is believed by its proponents to lead to more efficient and effective fund use. It is also claimed that project-initiated participatory processes can have wider ‘spillover’ impacts, building local institutions and leadership, enhancing civic capacity, improving social relations and boosting state legitimacy.
This paper briefly reviews the World Bank’s experience of using CDD in conflict-affected and post-conflict areas of the East Asia and Pacific region. The region has been at the forefront of developing large-scale CDD programming including high profile ‘flagships’ such as the Kecamatan Development Program (KDP) in Indonesia and the Kapitbisig Laban Sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (KALAHI-CIDSS) project in the Philippines.
How successful have such efforts been? Through what mechanisms have projects had impacts (or not)? And what factors—related to project design or to the context in which programs are operating—have affected performance? This paper provides a framework for assessing the impacts of CDD projects in post-conflict and conflict-affected areas. It tries to unpack the potential causal channels through which projects may have their desired, or other, impacts. It then looks at the evidence on whether and how projects have achieved these outcomes, focusing on a range of recent and current projects in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Timor-Leste. The analysis summarizes results, draws on comparative evidence from other projects in the region and elsewhere, and seeks to identify factors that explain variation in outcomes and project performance. The paper concludes with a short summary of what we know, what we don’t, and potential future directions for research and programming.
Abstract: The Human Development Network
(HDN) breaks out from its comfort zone of basic economic issues and addresses one that is at core a
political one: ideology-based armed conflicts. The theme was motivated by the observation that some of the
most conflict-ridden provinces are also among the bottom-10 provinces for almost every dimension of human
development, yet the link between human insecurity and human development had yet to be explored; that the
Philippines is home to two of the world’s longest-running armed conflicts, yet a credible accounting of their
human and economic costs is not available; and that insurgency, indeed terrorism, is often casually attributed to
income poverty and inequality, yet too many counter examples (of poor communities not participating, much
less condoning violence) could be cited. Why, after so many years of counterinsurgency policies and anti-poverty
strategies, have resolutions to the conflicts been so elusive?
The Report examines the causes and costs of the communist and Moro insurgencies, asks why and how
government “counterinsurgency” policies and other institutions have fallen short, and tries to suggest how current
peace efforts can be recast or reinforced. It proceeds from and with a human development frame, that is, an
understanding that human security is not just freedom from fear, a defensive concept, but also freedom from
want and humiliation; that the insecurity of one is the insecurity of all, and, most important, that human security
is a right in itself.
Abstract: On November 23, 2009, around 200 armed men stopped a convoy carrying family members
and supporters of a local vice mayor in the southern Philippines island of Mindanao as they
went to register his candidacy in upcoming gubernatorial elections. The gunmen forced the
group of 58 people—which included some 30 media workers and six passersby, off the
highway near the town of Ampatuan, ordered them from their vehicles, and executed them all.
The massacre—the worst in recent Philippines history—has since been attributed to
members of the Ampatuan family, which has controlled life and death in Maguindanao
province for more than two decades through a “private army” of 2000 to 5000 armed men
comprised of government-supported militia, local police, and military personnel. Many
members of the family, which is headed by Andal Ampatuan, Sr.—Maguindanao’s governor
from 2001 to 2009—hold official posts in the province and region. Before the 2007 elections,
most of Maguindanao’s 27 mayors were the sons, grandsons, or other relatives of Andal
Ampatuan, Sr., including his son, Andal Ampatuan, Jr., who stands charged with 57 counts of
murder in connection with the 2009 massacre. Ampatuan, Jr. is currently on trial in Manila
for the killings, together with 16 police officers and two alleged militia members. Currently,
195 people have been charged, including 29 members of the Ampatuan family and their
allies; over half of those charged remain at large.
While killings among ruling families in central Mindanao are not uncommon, the scale and
brutality of the November 23 massacre far exceeded previous attacks in this violent region. It
also focused international attention on ruling families like the Ampatuans, and the
lawlessness that persists in much of the Philippines.
Abstract: The case of the Philippines provides an interesting example of how post-colonial governments in Southeast Asia are trying to govern multi-ethnic nations. The Philippines, despite being the country in Asia with the most vibrant civil society, is still dealing with a war on the southern island of Mindanao – a war fuelled by, rather than abated by, national dynamics of identity-construction and social practices of democracy. This paper looks into these protracted national dynamics and their influence on the conflict in Mindanao. It further contrasts those with local, predominantly civil-society-based, approaches of identity re-construction and decision-making that have changed the situation for many communities on the ground, but that haven’t so far had much impact on the national setting. Therefore, the final part of the paper assesses the impact of local civil-society initiatives and draws conclusions on how those could provide blue¬prints for national solutions and complement high-level peace talks.
Abstract: This document includes a map representing incidents in the Philippines from July 2008 - June 2010, with incidents classified by suspected perpetrators (Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), New People's Army-Communist Party of the Philippines (NPA-CPP), Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), and other groups). It also includes graphs showing the number of incidents by group over time by six-month period (July 2008-June 2010), the relative number of incidents by suspected perpetrator, and the relative number of incidents by type (armed attack, IED, kidnapping, grenade, arson, hostage, bombing). The document also includes a map of the displacement in Mindanao in September 2008 alongside a corresponding map for September 2010, alongside data on the number of registered internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the region. Finally, the document closes with a brief factsheet describing the main armed groups and other perpetrators in Mindanao, and a brief chronology of conflict and displacement from July 2008 to June 2010.
Abstract: This Alert is the second in a series investigating the situation of women’s and children’s protection concerns in ASEAN. It aims to examine the domestic efforts that Indonesia and the Philippines have made in the area of domestic violence legislation. Both countries are often cited as having national legislation which directly refers to the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), and a number of institutions that service the needs of women and children who have suffered from violence. In addition, this Alert also provides a brief glimpse into the distinct protection needs of women and children during situations of violence, citing Aceh and Mindanao as examples.
Abstract: This issue includes the following articles: Building a Strategic U.S.-Pakistan Nuclear Relationship, by Rolf Mowatt-Larssen; Beyond the Moscow Bombings: Islamic Militancy in the North Caucasus, by Christopher Swift; After Pune, Details Emerge on the Karachi Project and its Threat to India ,by Animesh Roul; Assessing the Recent Terrorist Threat to the Malacca Strait, by Peter Chalk; The Philippines Chips Away at the Abu Sayyaf Group’s Strength, by Zachary Abuza; Al-Qa`ida in the Islamic Maghreb: A Case Study in the Opportunism of Global Jihad, by Jean-Pierre Filiu; No Silver Bullets: Explaining Research on How Terrorism Ends, by Audrey Kurth Cronin.
Abstract: This issue includes the following articles: Riyaz Bhatkal and the Origins of the Indian Mujahidin, by Praveen Swami; Salafi-Jihadi Activism in Gaza: Mapping the Threat, by Benedetta Berti; The Virtual Jihad: An Increasingly Legitimate Form of Warfare, by Akil N. Awan; Internet Jihadists React to the Deaths of Al-Qa`ida’s Leaders in Iraq, by Abdul Hameed Bakier; The Kidnapping and Execution of Khalid Khwaja in Pakistan, by Rahimullah Yusufzai; The Sources of the Abu Sayyaf’s Resilience in the Southern Philippines, by Rommel C. Banlaoi.
Abstract: 1 The Philippines’ Continued Success Against Extremists By Peter Chalk; 5 The Evolving Role of Uzbek-led Fighters in Afghanistan and Pakistan By Jeremy Binnie and Joanna Wright; 7 Tribal Dynamics of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Insurgencies By Hayder Mili and Jacob Townsend; 11 A Review of Reconciliation Efforts in Afghanistan By Joanna Nathan; 14 The Absence of Shi`a Suicide Attacks in Iraq By Babak Rahimi; 17 Factors Affecting Stability in Northern Iraq By Ramzy Mardini; 20 Training for Terror: The "Homegrown" Case of Jami`at al-Islam al-Sahih By Jeffrey B. Cozzens and William Rosenau; 24 Recent Highlights in Terrorist Activity
