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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: 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 paper is interested in explaining the persistence and steady expansion of the sphere of
military autonomy in spite of democratization and how it aects security sector transformation
(SST). It argues that SST processes will be constrained, limited, and even undermined so long
as the military enjoys signi cant degrees of political autonomy in three ways. First, a relatively
autonomous military will likely de ne and dominate the framework of SST in a given country.
This implies that programs that will reform the military will likely not produce the intended
results of democratic civilian control. Second, any gains or positive outcomes generated by transforming the security sector will likely be jeopardized by the military since they have the power
to stifle or undermine these reforms. Finally, military autonomy in certain areas such as human
rights and security policy hinders the participation of other actors, notably civil society in being
able to influence and contribute to SST initiatives. Using the case of the Philippines, this study
seeks to examine these three causal mechanisms that link military autonomy with the space
or opportunities for governments to implement programs and policies that could transform the
security sector.
Abstract: This paper seeks to contextualize forced migration brought about by the war as an exacerbating phenomenon for children of ethnic origin who has been deprived hitherto of basic social services, yet managed to live to tell the tale of their survival. The paper discusses the specific case of children of marginalized groups in Mindanao, aged 13-17, who have been caught in regional conflict or skirmishes.
Abstract: Many countries particularly in Asia are not
only beleaguered with natural hazards but also
human-induced disasters arising from complex
situations of conflict. The Philippines is among
them.
This first publication of the Asian Disaster
Reduction and Response Network (ADRRN)
focuses on the challenges to human security in
complex situations, considering the situation
in the Southern Philippines as a case study.
It is hoped that other countries will better
understand the complexities of the situation
here, may find some parallels with their own
experiences and will learn some lessons from
what is happening in the Philippines. Part I Elements of the Conflict Situation in the Philippines: This part includes: Chapter 1, Mindanao: A Historical Overview, by Rudy B. Rodil; Chapter 2, State Domain vs. Ancestral Domain in Mindanao-Sulu, by Rudy B. Rodil; Chapter 3, The Bangsamoro under the Philippine Rule, by Abhoud Syed M. Lingga; Chapter 4, Ideology-Based Conflicts, by Victor M. Taylor; Chapter 5, Letting a Thousand Flowers Bloom: Clan Conflicts and their Management, by Wilfredo M. Torres III; Chapter 6, Criminality: Focus on Kidnappings, by Victor M. Taylor. Part II Synthesis includes: Chapter 1, Tying the Strands, by Victor M. Taylor. Part III Conclusion includes: Chapter 1, Humanitarianism in Complex Areas, by Merlie B. Mendoza.
Abstract: Four decades of internal conflict in the Philippines have taken their toll. The
costs of the war include not only a considerable number of direct conflict
deaths and casualties, but also the continuing insecurity that has hampered
development efforts, trapping people in poverty. Civilians have suffered most.
Violations of human rights and international humanitarian law have been
perpetrated by combatants on all sides. The climate of fear created, and the
militarization and rule of the gun that accompany conflict, have stood in the
way of the ongoing democratization process, begun with such optimism in
the 1980s at the end of the Marcos dictatorship.
Small arms and light weapons fuel the violence in the Philippines. They are
widely available and, sadly, put to widespread use—not only in combat but
in the hundreds of political murders that have taken place this decade. There
is an urgent need to address weapons proliferation in the Philippines—and it
cannot await the outcome of stop–start peace talks.
This book is therefore both timely and necessary. It provides an objective
analysis of the issues underlying the ongoing conflicts, and of the interests
and modus operandi of the parties involved. Neither romanticizing nor demonizing
the various armed groups, the analysis points to ways to engage these
groups with a view to promoting human security. It situates such efforts by
providing the historical context, so essential to understanding the motives of
the groups and why conflict persists in the Philippines.
Abstract: As the Philippine election on 10 May 2010 draws nearer,
voters in central Mindanao are focused on the political
fallout from the “Maguindanao massacre”; clan politics;
the new automated election system; and whether any agreement
between the Philippines government and the Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is possible before President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo leaves office on 30 June. Voters will choose a new president and vice president,
members of the national Congress, and some 17,000 local
executive and legislative positions. The biggest question
in central Mindanao, however, is how much the power of
the Ampatuan clan has been weakened by the arrests of
its senior members for suspected involvement in the massacre.
Fear that lawyers for the patriarch, Andal Ampatuan
Sr, will somehow find a way to obtain the release of their
client remain palpable in and around Maguindanao province. Sources of conflict remain high. If the 2009 massacre did
not have its roots in a blood feud (rido) between clans, it
may have created one going forward between the families
of the killers and their victims. The arrests of the Ampatuans
have also emboldened some to pursue rido-related revenge
on members of the family’s private army. The likelihood
of violence is so great that the military has placed
Maguindanao on highest alert through the elections.
And in the midst of it all, pressure to produce an interim
agreement between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Arroyo government remains high. The
government is desperate for a pact so that Arroyo can leave
office on a high note; the MILF will not be forced into an
agreement for agreement’s sake.
Abstract: The U.S. military must plan for a wide range of security cooperation missions, ranging from
“normal” peacetime security cooperation activities—such as building the long-term institutional
and operational capabilities and capacity of key partners and allies, establishing and
deepening relationships between the U.S. and partner militaries, and securing access to critical
areas overseas—to managing quasi-operational efforts, such as managing foreign internal
defense within the overall foreign policy objectives of the United States. Security cooperation,
in the form of noncombat military-to-military activities, is a useful part of the military’s toolkit
in conflict prevention. Although security cooperation requires a relatively small investment
with respect to the overall efforts of the U.S. military, it can be a key enabler of the success
of future U.S. military missions by shaping the environment and laying the groundwork for
future coalition and stability operations with allies and partners.
Current world conditions both create significant demands for U.S. security cooperation
programs and deplete available resources to carry out these missions. The wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan are occupying the regular, reserve, National Guard, and Special Forces trainers
and advisors who would normally be called on to train and advise military counterparts. Furthermore,
U.S. allies, who often complement the efforts of U.S. advisors and trainers, are also
stretched thin by their own deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. It is important to consider the context in which security cooperation takes place. Security
assistance and cooperation are only components of U.S. efforts to assist and influence countries.
Abstract: Since independence, the postcolonial states of Congo, Sierra Leone and the Philippines have been commonly troubled by military rebellions. Did the sub-Saharan African and Philippine mutineers share the same cause of action? Did they deploy the same strategies when rebelling against the states? Did the states manage to resolve the crises? How? These questions not only interest military science scholars, but also students of postcolonial statecraft. To answer them, this paper will examine the promise and pitfall of Bayart’s (1993[1989]) African governmentality approach for analyzing state-military relations in the Philippine context. To remedy the shortcoming of Bayart’s state-society relations which is conceived in self-reproducing circulation, a more comprehensive framework will be able to explain social changes. Thus, I will propose to conceive military rebellion as a political technology of soldiers, who as individual persons, constantly grapple with the state’s sprawling subjecting mechanisms, and challenge state power. Therefore, the state is forced to re-contain them. Against the larger backdrop of the postcolonial state-building projects, I will then compare and contrast the military rebellions in Congo, Sierra Leone and the Philippines. Unlike the sub-Saharan African soldiers who rebelled for their own personal interests, the Philippine state was able to subject the soldiers for state-building purposes. Even when the soldiers were disillusioned under the Marcos regime (1972-1986) and resorted to rebellions, the Philippine state was able to re-subject and instrumentalize them, and re-contain the mutineers in the post-Marcos era (1986 – present), through three arts of governing: producing martial law, brokering counterinsurgency, and re-containment and law-force indistinction. These techniques constitute what I mean by ‘pursuing the soldier-rebels’.
Abstract: This research was undertaken in eight countries that were experiencing or had experienced armed conflict or other situations of armed violence. These were: Afghanistan; Colombia; Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Georgia; Haiti; Lebanon; Liberia; and the Philippines. The aim was to develop a better understanding of people’s needs and expectations, to gather views and opinions, and to give a voice to those who had been adversely affected by armed conflict and other situations of armed violence. This research was commissioned by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) within the framework of the Our world. Your move. campaign. Launched in 2009, the campaign’s goal was to draw public attention to the vulnerability and ongoing suffering of people around the world. The intention was to emphasize the importance of humanitarian action and to convince individuals that they had the ability to make a difference and reduce suffering. This report encompasses two types of research: an opinion survey and in-depth research.
Abstract: The run-up to presidential elections is a time of heightened state-sponsored repression as Asia’s foremost ‘death squad democracy’ wages war on its progressive rural medical workers.
The notoriously violent and corrupt elections in the Philippines stand in sharp contrast with those in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan and Malaysia, where the ruling elites have secured their hegemony via economic prosperity, rising salaries, increased employment and extensive social services for their citizens. In these countries, the elite can abide by the results of a relatively ‘open’ election, whereas in the Philippines, any challenge to the closed, family-based ruling class is met with relentless terror. Elections in the Philippines are violent contests between rival ‘oligarchic’ families – a pattern frozen in 19th century style rivalries – where guns and assassinations, as well as ballots, decide which ‘faction’ will rule. Political elites actually enlist the help of the local police, military, paramilitary and death squads to kill leading rival contenders, in order to ensure a ‘win’ for their candidates. The recent massacre of 57 civilians (including two dozen journalists), on their way to register a local candidate by a warlord ally of the president, has ensured that the coming election will be among the bloodiest.
Abstract: Ever since conflict resolution emerged as a distinct
discipline and practice, third-party involvement has
been an important theme. It has become almost
axiomatic that a conflict resolution approach requires
third party mediation or facilitation, though of course
there are many examples of parties being able to apply
the principles of conflict resolution effectively without
outside assistance. In 2006, Conciliation Resources worked with partners in
Colombia and the Philippines to explore issues of thirdparty
involvement in peace processes. In Colombia, we
focused primarily on the roles that international actors
can play in a conflict resolution process. In the
Philippines, discussions centred more explicitly on
roles played by third parties from within the society
experiencing the armed conflict directly. In both cases,
we used examples from peacemaking practice
elsewhere in the world to provide a lens through which
to reflect on the experiences in both countries. While the framing of the discussions and the contextual
variations in Colombia and the Philippines necessarily
resulted in different emphases during the work, it is
possible to identify a useful cluster of issues emerging
from both contexts. This is partly because while third
parties may exhibit different characteristics, they often
experience some very similar challenges and dilemmas. The paper begins by identifying different types of third
parties, acknowledging the difficulty of making neat
distinctions between them. It provides a new framework
for thinking about the various characteristics that define
third parties and the roles they are able to play in
peacebuilding. It proposes that characteristics
such as whether a party is official or unofficial, formal
or informal, external or internal, are actually located
along a spectrum rather than being absolute categories
in themselves.
Abstract: This review contains description from a non-exhaustive selection of material relevant
to militias in Mindanao. It aims to provide the reader with a broad overview of key
points and is not intended to be a strict academic literature review.
Abstract: In the Philippines, civilian vigilante groups, known as Civilian Volunteer Organisations (CVOs), are being used as private armies by local politicians and powerful traditional leaders in Maguindanao province. These groups were created as unarmed civilian self-help groups in response to the growing insurgency problem in the countryside during the early 1980s. However, in certain parts of the Philippines, local politicians are reportedly heavily arming and using members of CVOs, including child and youth members, in violation of national law. The report is divided into three parts. Part One gives a contextualised summary of these groups.
Part Two takes a closer look at the human face of this phenomenon, with profiles of individuals involved. Part
Three examines possible solutions to the problem, with an evaluation of relevant social programmes and
policies.
Abstract: From Nepal to Iraq, the idea of absorbing ex-combatants from non-statutory forces into national armies is gaining political ground. Either as a peace investment or a counterinsurgency tool, the military integration of former insurgents and militiamen presents vexing security challenges. In 1996 and 2001, the Philippines and East Timor respectively embarked upon parallel projects to absorb former rebels/combatants into their army.
Abstract: At least 71 journalists were killed across the globe in 2009, the Committee to Protect Journalists announced Tuesday, the largest annual toll in the 30 years the group has been keeping track.
Twenty-nine of those deaths came in a single, politically motivated massacre of reporters and others in the Philippines last November, the worst known episode for journalists, the committee said.
But there were other worrisome trends. The two nations with the highest number of journalists incarcerated — China had 24 journalists imprisoned at the end of 2009 and Iran had 23 — were particularly harsh in taking aim at bloggers and others using the Internet. The number jailed in Iran has since jumped to 47, the committee said. Of the 71 confirmed deaths, 51 were murders, the committee said. The report noted that 24 additional deaths of journalists remained under investigation to determine if they were related to the journalists’ work. Previously, the highest number of journalists killed in a single year was 67, in 2007, when violence in Iraq was raging.
Abstract: Unlike nations that have the ability to project military power and can face challenges of accommodating the full spectrum of conflict, small powers have to be more selective in allocating scarce resources that are often times related to their immediate security needs. To draw more attention to this point, the paper would like to examine CMO practiced in the Philippines.
In many ways, the AFP-CMO is a sui generis where its concepts have been developed from their particular military culture and experience. Elements of CMO have been in existence since the early 1950s and were utilized for both counterinsurgency and nation-building, but it was only in 2006 that it became formally institutionalized as part of the nation‘s efforts to combine soft and hard power to tackle the insurgency problem.
Abstract: The Humanitarian Action Report is UNICEF's only publication dealing specifically with the needs of children and women in emergencies. It spotlights crises that require exceptional support, and additional funding, to save lives and protect children from harm in an increasingly challenging humanitarian environment.
This year's report – subtitled 'Partnering for children in emergencies' – says the world is seeing crises exacerbated by larger trends, such as climate change and the international financial downturn, that are beyond the capacity of any one agency to address.
The report appeals for nearly $1.2 billion in international donor funding for emergency-response efforts in 28 countries covering six regions – from Eastern Europe to Africa to Asia to Latin America. The funding will be used to support a greater emphasis on emergency preparedness, early warning, disaster risk reduction and rapid recovery.
Abstract: Despite the deplorable conditions, the evacuees were unable to return to their homes because of the climate of fear that prevails to this day. Although heavily militarized, reports of the continued presence of the Ampatuan clan’s private army still persist.
This was revealed by Kalinaw Mindanao, which held a National Interfaith Mission for Peace and Justice in Maguindanao last January 22 to 26. Kalinaw Mindanao is an alliance organization composed of human-rights groups, lawyers groups and Moro and church-based organizations.
“These evacuees are the hidden victims of human-rights violations caused by the warlordism of the Ampatuans and heavy military presence in the province,” Kalinaw Mindanao spokesperson Bai Ali Indayla said.
The evacuees and police and military officials confirmed to the mission the presence of unidentified armed men roaming in the area. Threats against civilians persisted in the form of house-burning, as was the case last January 12 when eight houses were torched in Sitio Agapok.
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 massacre on 23 November 2009 of 57 men and
women by the private army of a warlord allied to Philippine
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo shocked the
country and the world. The immediate trigger for the
killings was the decision of one man, Esmail “Toto”
Mangudadatu, to run for governor of Maguindanao province,
which for the last decade has been the fiefdom of
the Ampatuan family. Political patronage by successive
governments in Manila, most notably by the Arroyo
administration, allowed the Ampatuans to amass great
wealth and unchecked power, including the possession
of a private arsenal with mortars, rocket launchers and
state-of-the-art assault rifles. They controlled the police,
the judiciary, and the local election commission. In the
wake of the massacre, there are opportunities for new
measures in the areas of justice, security and peace. The
question is whether anyone in a position of power will
seize them.
Abstract: Pursuant to the provision of Section 18, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution, the President of the Republic of the Philippines is submitting the hereunder Report relate to Proclamation No. 1959 "Proclaiming a State of Martial Law and Suspending the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus in the Province of Maguindanao, except for Certain Areas", which she issued on 04 December 2009, as required by public safety, after finding lawless elements have taken up arms and committed public uprising against the duly constituted government and against the people of Maguindanao, for the purpose of removing the allegiance to the Government or its laws, the Province of Maguindanao, and likewise depriving the Chief Executive of her powers and perogatives to enforce the laws of the land and to maintain public order and safety, to the great damage, prejudice and detriment of the people in Maguindanao and then nation as a whole.
Abstract: The 63rd United Nations (UN) General Assembly is poised to debate Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon’s report on the operationalisation of the Responsibility to Protect (referred to as ‘R2P’
for the remainder of this report). It is expected that his report will be released and debated in
early 2009. Therefore, this is a good time to examine the position that Member States have
adopted on the R2P since its endorsement at the 2005 World Summit and policy issues
relating to its implementation through the UN. This report will focus on the Member States of
the Association for South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the exception of Myanmar, which
is currently on the UN Security Council’s agenda. It concentrates on their position on the
R2P and their policy priorities in areas related to implementing the principle through the UN.
The report identifies steps that might encourage the region’s governments to become more
positively engaged with the R2P principle.
Abstract: The Philippine Programme of the Asia-Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect (APR2P) held a workshop in Manila on 25-26 June 2009 at the Edsa Shangri-la Hotel, Manila, with some 50 participants from government, academe, civil society, and media sectors in the Philippines. This report provides the highlights of the two-day workshop and some specific recommendations for the future direction of the Philippine programme on R2P constituency building. The workshop included three plenary sessions: the State of R2P Debate and Importance of National and Regional Constituencies; R2P Promotion and Constituency Building in the Philippines: Perspectives from Stakeholders; R2P Promotion and Constituency-Building in the Philippines: The Role of Stakeholders. Key points from these sessions, as well as smaller group discussions, are covered in this report.
Abstract: In July 2009, the UN General Assembly held an Interactive Informal Dialogue and plenary session on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP). The dialogue provided the first opportunity for the UN membership as a whole to discuss implementation of the 2005 World Summit’s commitment to the RtoP and the UN Secretary-General’s report on the matter. Fifteen governments from the Asia-Pacific region, namely Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Japan, China, Vietnam, Solomon Islands, Myanmar, Timor-Leste, DPRK, PNG and Malaysia, participated in the dialogue. This culminated in a resolution co-sponsored by, inter alia, Australia, Fiji, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Korea, Timor-Leste and New Zealand that noted the Secretary-General’s report, observed the fruitfulness of the interactive dialogue, and committed the Assembly to further consideration of the RtoP.
According to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, one of the most significant aspects of the dialogue was the positive transformation of attitudes towards the RtoP within the Asia-Pacific region. Having previously been considered the region most opposed to the RtoP, the region now boasts near unanimity in its endorsement of the principle and the Secretary-General’s efforts towards its implementation (with the exception of North Korea).
