Book launch and discussion: Islamic State in Australia by Dr Rodger Shanahan
THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT
Join us for the launch of Islamic State in Australia (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2023) by Middle East expert and Lowy Institute Nonresident Fellow Dr Rodger Shanahan, the first-ever examination of the activities of Western supporters and members of the militant Islamist group through the experience of their Australian cohort. More than 200 Australian men, women and children travelled to Syria and Iraq to fight with Islamist groups and to help establish an Islamic State by force. Dozens more assisted Islamic State by supporting those overseas or by planning or carrying out terrorist attacks in Australia. For all that, little is publicly known about the impact of the Syrian conflict on Australia’s radical Islamists. In a project that spans years of research and analyses countless local and foreign court records and a range of social and mainstream media content, this book represents a unique insight into Australians’ involvement with Islamic State.
Award-winning journalist Adam Harvey will launch the book, and along with Rodger Shanahan and countering violent extremism expert Peta Lowe will take part in a panel discussion on how and why so many Australians came to adopt radical views of Islam and what the long-term legal and security implications are likely to be. The event will include an audience Q&A and will be moderated by Lowy Institute’s Director of Research, Hervé Lemahieu.
Rodger Shanahan is a Nonresident Fellow at the Lowy Institute, a former army officer with extensive service within the Parachute Battalion Group and has had operational service with the UN in South Lebanon and Syria, with the PBG in East Timor, in Beirut during the 2006 war, and in Afghanistan. He was the former director of the Army’s Land Warfare Studies Centre and has been posted to the Australian embassies in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi. Dr Shanahan has MAs in International Relations and Middle East Studies from the ANU, and a PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies from the University of Sydney. He is also a part-time member on the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, has appeared as an expert witness in dozens of terrorism trials in Australia, and is the author of The Shi’a of Lebanon: Clans, Parties and Clerics.
Adam Harvey is a two-time Walkley Award winner and reporter with the ABC’s Four Corners. He is an experienced foreign correspondent with postings to Beirut, Jakarta and New York, and has been a reporter for 7.30, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Irish Times, Sky News and The Daily Telegraph. He has reported on Islamic State from Marawi in the Philippines to Baghouz in Syria.
Peta Lowe is Principal Consultant at Phronesis Consulting and Training. She is the former Director, Countering Violent Extremism for Juvenile Justice in the NSW Department of Justice; an expert consultant with the International Institute for Justice and the Rule of Law; a specialist consultant for The Commonwealth Secretariat; and an international expert with UNODC and UNDP in CVE/PVE. She provides expert reports for Australian courts in terrorism sentencing and continuing detention applications.
Tickets include wine and cheese
All Lowy Institute public events are on the record and open for media attendance.
