Contemporary jihadi terrorism : defending the city-state of Singapore against the asymmetric enemy

Counter-terrorism is an asymmetric conflict in which societies and states are fighting a “perpetual and permanent war” against the global threat of jihadi terrorism. Global jihadi terrorist groups – Al Qaeda and the Islamic State – have the unlimited goals of totally changing the international order...

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Main Author: Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman
Other Authors: Ahmed Salah Hashim
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/77230
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author Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman
author2 Ahmed Salah Hashim
author_facet Ahmed Salah Hashim
Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman
author_sort Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman
collection NTU
description Counter-terrorism is an asymmetric conflict in which societies and states are fighting a “perpetual and permanent war” against the global threat of jihadi terrorism. Global jihadi terrorist groups – Al Qaeda and the Islamic State – have the unlimited goals of totally changing the international order. Jihadi terrorists use asymmetric methods to conduct unconventional attacks and exploit the weaknesses of their targets. Indeed, transnational jihadi terrorism is akin to an insurgency across states. An appreciation of the grand strategies of global jihadist terrorist groups is necessary, besides their ideology, to keep counter-terrorism efforts effective. It is insufficient for past and current trends to inform counter-terrorism efforts. Cities are central to the jihadi grand strategy, and this is a concern for Singapore as it is a city-state in East Asia, which the Islamic State had declared as one of its provinces. Asymmetric (or hybrid or unrestricted) methods can feature significantly at the grand strategic level by hitting the political and economic base of a city-state. This research paper examines the grand strategies of global jihadi terrorist groups and how asymmetric methods feature in the strategies. It also examines the grand counter-terrorism strategy of Singapore and how it may fare in the duel against the jihadi grand strategy. Finally, the paper offers an analytical framework that may help ensure the sustainability of the grand counter-terrorism strategy.
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spelling ntu-10356/772302020-11-01T08:24:37Z Contemporary jihadi terrorism : defending the city-state of Singapore against the asymmetric enemy Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman Ahmed Salah Hashim S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Terrorism Counter-terrorism is an asymmetric conflict in which societies and states are fighting a “perpetual and permanent war” against the global threat of jihadi terrorism. Global jihadi terrorist groups – Al Qaeda and the Islamic State – have the unlimited goals of totally changing the international order. Jihadi terrorists use asymmetric methods to conduct unconventional attacks and exploit the weaknesses of their targets. Indeed, transnational jihadi terrorism is akin to an insurgency across states. An appreciation of the grand strategies of global jihadist terrorist groups is necessary, besides their ideology, to keep counter-terrorism efforts effective. It is insufficient for past and current trends to inform counter-terrorism efforts. Cities are central to the jihadi grand strategy, and this is a concern for Singapore as it is a city-state in East Asia, which the Islamic State had declared as one of its provinces. Asymmetric (or hybrid or unrestricted) methods can feature significantly at the grand strategic level by hitting the political and economic base of a city-state. This research paper examines the grand strategies of global jihadi terrorist groups and how asymmetric methods feature in the strategies. It also examines the grand counter-terrorism strategy of Singapore and how it may fare in the duel against the jihadi grand strategy. Finally, the paper offers an analytical framework that may help ensure the sustainability of the grand counter-terrorism strategy. Master of Science (Strategic Studies) 2019-05-17T13:02:30Z 2019-05-17T13:02:30Z 2019 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10356/77230 en 81 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Terrorism
Muhammad Faizal Abdul Rahman
Contemporary jihadi terrorism : defending the city-state of Singapore against the asymmetric enemy
title Contemporary jihadi terrorism : defending the city-state of Singapore against the asymmetric enemy
title_full Contemporary jihadi terrorism : defending the city-state of Singapore against the asymmetric enemy
title_fullStr Contemporary jihadi terrorism : defending the city-state of Singapore against the asymmetric enemy
title_full_unstemmed Contemporary jihadi terrorism : defending the city-state of Singapore against the asymmetric enemy
title_short Contemporary jihadi terrorism : defending the city-state of Singapore against the asymmetric enemy
title_sort contemporary jihadi terrorism defending the city state of singapore against the asymmetric enemy
topic DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Terrorism
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/77230
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