As Long As They Don’t Use Violence: Making Peace and Resisting Violent Extremism in South East Asia

Violence has been used to achieve political aims by governments and non-state actors. This paper examines the impact of past and ongoing conflicts, and their political responses, on Aceh, Ambon, Maluku, and Poso in Indonesia, Mindanao in the Philippines, and Timor-Leste. It explores how the conflicts interact with violent extremism and affect its prevention. While conflict often opens the door to extremists, political processes may help close it by creating favourable environments for disengagement, resilience and resistance to extremists and their ideology.

Geographical Scope: Regional

Region: UNDP Asia and the Pacific

Country: Indonesia,Malaysia,Myanmar,Thailand,the Philippines

Theme of Research: Drivers and Root Causes Governance/Policy and National Action Plans

Year Published: 2020

Responsible Entity: UNDP Asia and the Pacific