The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia: From Darul Islam to Jema'ah Islamiyah
Published jointly by the Lowy Institute and New South Publishing, this book is an edited English language edition of Solahudin's best selling NII Sampai JI: Salafy Jihadisme di Indonesia', translated by the Lowy Institute's Dr Dave McRae. Based on a remarkable array of original sources, it shows how the ideas and form of activism that lead to the Bali Bombings in 2002 have a long and complex history, stretching back to the Darul Islam revolt in the 1950s.
- ‘The book has become something of a phenomenon in Indonesia. It’s the subject of television talk shows and public discussions in mosques and universities, copies are are circulating among former insurgents in West Java, and the police, intelligence agencies and military have bought up hundreds of copies. About the only person to have a negative reaction to the book so far is a JI leader – who was hurt because he wasn’t interviewed.’ – Sidney Jones, Indonesia analyst
- ‘A ground-breaking work that will have a major impact on how people view Indonesian jihadism.’– Dr Greg Fealy, ANU, leading Indonesia expert
Executive Summary
The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia is available from all good book stores and online. The book is published in Australia/New Zealand by NewSouth Books in association with the Lowy Institute, and is also available in a Southeast Asia edition (excludes Philippines) published by NUS Press and a North America/Europe edition published by Cornell University Press.
The book has been reviewed in The Monthly, The Age, Indonesia's Koran Tempo newspaper, the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, and The Jakarta Post. You can watch and listen to interviews with the author, including a Q&A session with TIME. In an opinion piece in The Australian, Solahudin also outlines the importance of understanding salafy jihadi ideology to understand terrorism in Indonesia. In a piece for The Interpreter, he also analyses terrorists' shift from targeting the far enemy, such as the US and its allies, to the near enemy, particularly the Indonesian police. Solahudin also discussed the process of researching and writing The Roots of Terrorism in Indonesia here. You can also watch Solahudin discuss the book and terrorism in Indonesia with the Lowy Institute's Dr Dave McRae, who translated the book: part 1 and part 2. Solahudin was also profiled in January 2014 in The Jakarta Post: part 1 and part 2.
