Asia-Pacific Social Science Review 9:2 (2009), pp.
89-92
BOOK REVIEW:
Bilveer Singh on the "Taliban" of Southeast Asia
Singh, Bilveer. (2007). The Talibanization of South East Asia: Losing the War on Terror to Islamist
Extremists. U.S.A.: Praeger Security International.
Reviewed by: Salvado r Santino F. Regilme, Jr.
University of Osnabrueck in Lower Saxony
sregilme@uni-osnabrueck.de
Classified under the fields of social and political
studies, this book is arguably the first published
scholarly work after the 9/11 tragedy that
comprehensively studies the genesis, socio-political
motivations, nature of logistical resources and the
extent of resources of Islamic terrorist groups in
the South East Asian region. Singh, who laboriously
examines a sizeable number of reliable and relevant
o pen so urce int elligence and documents,
historicizes the humble beginnings of Islamic
fundamentalism, which was then a nationally- or
domestically-based threat. He characterizes the
current state of affairs of the region in terms of
political and military security vis-a-vis the emerging
regional intensification of threats caused by Islamic
extremism.
The scope of the themes and topics in the book
is comprehensive. It includes a glossary of relevant
terms in the Islamic culture; a chronology of
significant events tracing the historical roots of the
Al Jama’ah Al-Islamiyyah (AJAI); a substantive
discussion of the conceptual nature of religion-
based extremism and terrorism; Southeast Asian
experience of old and new forms of jihadism; the
emergence of the AJAI as the region’s foremost
transnational terror group; and a critical analysis
of counter-terror policies by state actors in the
region.
It is notable that Singh starts by clarifying the
apparently perplexing conceptual relationship
Copyright © 2009 De La Salle University, Philippines
among key ideas, such as fundamentalism,
extremism and terrorism. Most probably intent on
not being too simplistic in branding the members
of the Islamic world, Singh highlights the fact that
an Islamic fundamentalist is somebody who is well-
versed in the Islamic tradition and law, albeit
employing ultraorthodox interpretations and
perspectives; and that if one does not use violence,
he is definitely not and, therefore, should not be
unjustly accused as a criminal.
Meanwhile, Singh stresses that an individual who
advocates terror and violence, aside from justifying
one’s action with a fundamentalist and ultra-
orthodox interpretation of Islam, can already be
considered as a terrorist. Corollary to this, in the
context of the purported “Talibanization”
phenomenon, terrorism thus means “the use of
force to achieve political goals by mobilizing or
referring to Islam as a source of justification” (p.
4). Such a resolution of “definitional abyss” (pp.
4-5) is critical in promoting a healthy discourse on
the complex and highly politicized relationship of
faith, religion, politics and war; wherein, it is always
erroneously claimed that religion is always at the
heart of most conflicts in a post-9/11 security
environment.
Singh contends that Islamic fundamentalism and
terrorism are two distinct notions usually
misconstrued by non-Muslins; this is also his way
of reminding us to avoid unjust and wholesale
90 ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW
stereotyping of Muslims. Thus, religion can be
unjustly and instrumentally used to mask the
legitimization of political violence, notwithstanding
the fact that religion may be considered a neutral
concept.
Another notable insight from Singh is his
historical exposition of pre-AJAI state-of-terror
situation in the region where local terror groups
struck. The extent of the threat was, however,
only limited to a national level. In contrast, at
present the threat level seems to be ‘regionalized’,
if not globalized, as the goal of building a region-
wide Islamic caliphate using political violence at
all costs becomes nonnegotiable for the extremists.
Notably, this prospect of an Islamic-fundamentalist
way of governance in the region is part of the larger
goal of institutionalizing a global Islamic caliphate.
In relation to the politicization of certain socio-
economic dilemmas, Singh skilfully forges the link
between religion and terrorism; and affirms that the
insistent use of the former as the ideological
foundation of the latter is critical in shaping a totally
new security and political landscape in South East
Asia. Though not as novel as it may seem, the
author’s argument states that terrorism can be
causally attributed to such factors as: the
unreasonable politicization of socio-economic
inequities; the incessant magnifying of issues of
injustice; and the fortification of jihad ideology that
aims to mobilize and to recruit adherents.
Through historicizing, Singh warns that the
pace of Talibanization in the region is occurring
really fast; such observation being based on his
study of the genesis of radical ideas t hat
originated from the Middle East, and that were
realized in Iran’s Islamic revolution and the
mujahideen struggle in Afghanistan (p. 24). It is
essential to take note, however, that in order for
Singh to validly claim such an increased pace of
Talibanizat io n, he has t o ut ilize vario us
quantitative and qualitative studies that compare
pre- and post- 9/11 regional dynamics in terms
of such factors as: the number of casualties
involved in Islamic terror-related incidents; the
membership pool of key extremist groups; and
other variables that would relate to the bolstering
VOL. 9 NO. 2
of extremist groups in South East Asia in various
historical periods.
In the section that describes the old and new
forms of Islamic extremism in the region, Singh’s
unique contribution is his firm affirmation that
different country-based extremist groups in the
region, such as the first extremist leaders in
Indonesia, Philippines and even in Malaysia, were
trained in Middle Eastern territories where the
AJAI engaged in capacity-building activities not
only to strengthen their cadres but also to discover
and to imbibe the wahhabi-salafi orientation of
the group. Such an ideological framework,
imported by South East Asian extremists from their
intensive training and exposure in Middle Eastern
extremism, includes the following precepts: (1)
establishment of a global Islamic caliphate; (2)
adoption of Sharia governance; (3) upholding of
violence to defend Islam from threats (p. 78).
Singh’s effort to outline the beginnings of
extremism in Asia is groundbreaking as this is
arg uably t he first scho larly wo rk t hat
comprehensively substantiates regional extremism
not only from an organizational development
perspective, but also through an in-depth
exposition of the ideological origins of Islamic
fundamentalism unjustly used to rationalize terrorism
which is deemed necessary to build a region-based
caliphate.
As described by the author, extremism in South
East Asia is quite threatening as it can be depicted
as the “terrorist tribe cemented by kinship”;
individual families become embedded within the
cell-system of the AJAI. Moreover, Singh also
exposes for the first time the cut-off system of the
terror groups in the region based on a “need-to-
know” principle” (p. 83); such practice makes it
difficult for authorities to immediately wipe out these
terror groups since identification of other members
from another “cell” is completely not possible.
Moreover, affiliation with terror groups is not purely
based on a transaction-based relationship; rather
it is embedded within the substructure of a familial
values-system whereby those who cooperate with
the terror group also encourage other family
members to be prospective terrorists or, at the very
BOOKREVIEW
least, to contribute to the success of the extremist
cause. The research of Singh that led him to this
discovery is a principal contribution, not only to
the various academic endeavours of the social
sciences, but also, on a more practical note, to
those in law enforcement, intelligence and policy
networks and communities.
On top of a lot of insightful and useful findings
of the author, one has to be reminded of the central
thesis of the work, which is that South East Asian
governments have to closely and intensely
collaborate, more than ever, with one another and
other actors in and beyond the region, which is on
the verge of “losing the war on terror to Islamist
extremists”. Starting from the fact that the AJAI is
the first regional terrorist organization in South East
Asia, Singh reasonably cautions the readers that
the region is rapidly being Talibanized. This
assumption is primarily reinforced by the
extraordinary ability of the AJAI to coordinate the
efforts of various religious extremist groups in the
region and even outsiders, including their like-
minded fellows in Pakistan, Afghanistan or even
Al-Qaeda. Taking into account such a warning, the
current security environment in the region is
dramatically different as compared to the pre-9/
11 state of affairs, and thus, this requires a
paradigmatic shift as well in the policy framework
of relevant government and intergovernmental
institutions.
In view of the idea that the rise of AJAI can be
equated to opening up a Pandora’s box of security
problems in South East Asia, as thoroughly
described by Singh, there are still other interesting
topics that have yet to be explored and researched.
Such topics include the following: country studies
of various institutional restructuring initiatives
undertaken by the government as a result of the 9/
11 crisis; different “soft power” policy approaches
that can be done both by intergovernmental and
governmental institutions to undermine the Islamic
extremist rhetoric; a comparative historical and
political study of Islamic extremism and moderate
groups; promotion of good governance and
development initiatives in South East Asian
territories beleaguered by Islamic terror groups;
REGILME, JR., S.S. 91
the normative role and the stake of key non-South
Est Asian actors, such as: China, the European
Union countries,, the United States and Australia,
in ensuring collaboration with regional actors to
address security problems resulting from the
growth of the AJAI; and a theoretical study of the
prospect of institutionalizing a region-wide or
global Islamic caliphate.
Considered a pioneering work in the emerging
research agenda of post- 9/11 terrorism studies,
Singh’s Talibanization of SouthEast Asia is
indeed remarkable in stimulating interest in
examining the growth and nature of Islamic
terrorism, not in the first front of the United States’
War on Terror which is now being fought in the
Middle East; but rather from the perspective of
somebody considerably knowledgeable in the
post- 9/11 security environment in South East Asia,
now famously branded as the second front of the
war. The apocalyptic scenario of a region-wide
Islamic caliphate through the efforts of the AJAI is
already warning enough from Singh. It should lead
to an immediat e, well-planned and well-
coordinated series of “soft” and “hard” power
policy responses that are not only technically
feasible, in terms of undermining the fast pace of
Talibanization, but also socially desirable, so as not
to further antagonize those people who might have
strong tendencies to take up arms because of the
jihad rhetoric.
Alt ho ugh much o f t he Unit ed St at es’
concentrated ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ power resources are
being channelled to the Middle East and South
Asia, Singh is successful in highlighting the
importance of studying South East Asia; the ultimate
goal of significant Islamic extremist groups such as
the AJAI is to build a region-wide Islamic caliphate
that has a socio-legal system fundamentally based
on an extreme form of Islamic scriptural orthodoxy.
Such a grim scenario ultimately necessitates the
eventual obliteration of democratic institutions –
advocating freedom, human rights, universal
political participation and reasonable secularism.
These are all indispensable and critically important
to attain a relative political and economic success,
such as that enjoyed by key countries in the region,
92 ASIA-PACIFIC SOCIAL SCIENCE REVIEW VOL. 9 NO. 2

like Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and

the Philippines. For sure, such a gloomy scenario
coming from Singh is enough to motivate policy-
makers to take action against the spread of Islamic
extremism; we cannot afford to have a region, once
known to be the hub of moderate and peaceful
Islam, transformed into an Islamic extremist-
originated caliphate, devoid of democratic and
secular values of utmost importance to the relative
stability being enjoyed by key countries in South
East Asia.