 Description:
The evolution of the modern nation-state in the post-Second World War era
in Southeast Asia has often been characterized by political violence of
one kind or another. Much of this has been a function of the struggle for
independence, the attempt to consolidate political control, or the contest
for ideological legitimacy. But as all the nations of Southeast Asia are
essentially multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious in nature,
it is often imagined that ethnic, cultural and religious differences have
been the principal causes of conflict. As Muslims constitute a significant
numerical proportion of the population of Southeast Asia it is inevitable
that they too have been caught in the cycle of political violence in more
ways than one. This lecture hopes to examine the theme of Islam and Political
Violence in the context of the political evolution of contemporary Southeast
Asia. It aims to demonstrate that political violence can only be understood
within its proper context and is by no means a monopoly of any single religion,
culture or civilization. A typology of political violence in Southeast
Asia will be offered and the role of various radical Muslim groups will
be examined.
 Objective:
The basic objectives of the lecture are to demonstrate that political violence
is invariably a function of a complex interplay of many different factors
and that there is a need for us to appreciate the full range of this complexity
in every conflict situation in order not to impair our understanding of
the real causes of political violence and hence their proper solutions.
A polemical or ideological approach will not only be unhelpful in trying
to help us understand the real nature of the problem but is bound to compound
it further.
 Recommended Readings:
Che Man, W. K. Muslim Separatism: The Moros of Southern Philippines and the Malays of Southern Thailand. Singapore: Oxford University Press, 1990.
Christie, Clive J. A Modern History of Southeast Asia: Decolonization, Nationalism and Separatism. New York: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1996.
Nakamura, Mitsuo, Sharon Siddique and Omar Farouk Bajunid (eds.). Islam and Civil Society in Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2001.
Ysa Osman. Oukoubah: Justice for the Cham Muslims under the Democratic Kampuchea Regime. Documentation Series No. 2. Phnom Penh:Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2002.
Chaiwat Satha-Anand, The Life of This World: Negotiated Muslim Lives in Thai Society. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, 2005.
Name:Omar FAROUK
Present Post and Title: Professor, Faculty of International Studies, Hiroshima City University
Final Education: University of Kent at Canterbury, England, Ph.D.
Specialized Field: Comparative/Southeast Asian Politics
Recent Publications:
*"Islam, Nationalism and the Thai State," in Wattana Sugunnasil (ed.), Southern Lives. Bangkok: Silkworm, 2005.
* "The Muslim Minority in Contemporary Politics," Hiroshima Journal of International Studies 8 (2002): 1-14.
*Islam and Civil Society in Southeast Asia (ed. with Mitsuo Nakamura and Sharon Siddique). Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2001.
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