Islamist Terrorism and Militancy in Indonesia: The Power of the Manichean Mindset

Drawing upon the natural and social sciences this book puts forth a provocative new argument that the militant threat in Indonesia today emanates from a violent Islamist complex adaptive and self-organizing system - what some might term a 'super-organism.' It goes beyond the standard ideological mantras and calls for fresh inter-disciplinary thinking to effectively cope with the ever-mutating challenge of the issue. The book questions the widely assumed belief that ideology is the root cause that explains why Indonesian Islamists radicalize into violent extremism. In addition it asks why de spite years of intense security force pressure seemingly disparate militant cells keep 'popping up' like the proverbial hydra - and in the apparent absence of a centralized coordinating body nevertheless appear to display an organic interconnectivity with one another. This book will be of interest to academics and students of terrorism religion and violence in the Southeast Asian region.