The Reshaping of the Terrorist and Extremist Landscape in a Post Pandemic World
ARK is pleased to note the publication of the reports from ‘The reshaping of the Terrorist and Extremist Landscape in a Post-Pandemic World’ research programme, which was led by Hedayah. ARK contributed with the research on Southeast Asia, covering the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and—to a lesser extent—Thailand. The purpose of the programme was to aggregate and analyse relevant information and trends regarding the impacts of COVID-19 on violent extremism and terrorism across several regions. Themes covered included how narratives of violent extremist organisations (VEOs) and other non-state armed groups (NSGAs), in formal communications channels and informal platforms, changed with the pandemic; shifts in the misinformation and disinformation content issued by VEOs and NSAGs; trends in the provision of public services by VEOs and NSAGs; or evolving patterns of recruitment and radicalization involving domestic actors and foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs).
Regarding some of main findings pertaining to Southeast Asia, violent extremist activity—especially offline activities, recruitment and attacks—was greatly reduced in the region during 2020-2021, due to a combination of public health measures/restrictions, changes in governmental policies and renewed law enforcement. The pandemic hastened the shift from in-person to online radicalization and recruitment and the dissemination of extremist propaganda in social media platforms but also in decentralized communication platforms. VEOs were quick to exploit COVID-19 into their narratives to captivate followers and justify their ideological views, which often included anti-government, anti-Western and anti-Chinese content. Some of these trends were reversed with the easing of restrictions; violent extremist activities and terrorist attacks gradually escalated and the use of COVID-19-related narratives lessened.
About the program:
This report series by Hedayah reflects on and analyzes over two years of global changes in violent extremism (VE) and terrorism wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report series prioritizes examining extremist narratives and related activities across four regions, each chosen for the presence of active violent extremist organizations (VEOs) and a paucity of relevant existing research at the time of project design.
The following insights across this site synthesize primary and secondary data from research teams comprised of experts from designated regions of focus: the Balkans, East Africa, West Africa, and Southeast Asia. Annual reports for 2020 and 2021 offer further in-depth research into narratives, trends, and policy recommendations. For readers seeking additional detail, downloadable regional reports (in PDF) are available for 2020 and 2021.