On August 8, 2024, TSC Senior Research Fellow, Julie Chernov Hwang, gave a talk in at the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the Rajaratnam school for International Studies in Singapore. Dr. Chernov Hwang discussed the patterns and pathways via which many Indonesians and Filipinos join Islamist extremist groups, commit to those groups, and why some are channeled into high-risk activities like terrorist cells, jihad experiences, and training camps, while others stay in comparatively low risk roles like teaching and preaching. Drawing on over 150 interviews between 2010 and 2019 with 97 Indonesian Islamist extremists, she highlighted how joining an Islamist extremist group in Indonesia and the Philippines is a product of two inter-related factors: whom they know and what they seek.
Without a family member, a friend or a mentor, there would be no way into the extremist network. However, relationships were not sufficient; it must also fulfill a need. Revenge, redemption, opportunities for altruism and practical experiences of jihad were the most commonplace. She also noted 5 pathways and one partial pathway into Islamist extremism in Indonesia: family, schools, study sessions, conflict, prison, and social media. She argued that while the decision to join was multifaceted, what made people stay and commit to a group and even participate in acts of terrorism was the thick social bonds they built with their fellow members and the trust and affinity they felt toward one another. On that same day, she also briefed the Singaporean Ministry of Home Affairs about trends in terrorism and counterterrorism in Indonesia, including issues of repatriation and the disbanding of Jemaah Islamiyah.