The start of 2025 is burdened with no shortage of things to worry about. The war in Ukraine; conflicts throughout the Middle East; tensions around Taiwan; the Los Angeles inferno; the possibility of Chinese and Russian financial or economic collapse. And, of course, the biggest known unknown that preoccupies the whole world: what will Donald Trump actually do when he’s president after all of the noise he’s made on his way to the White House?
The list is almost endless—and quite scary.
Somewhat surprisingly, the global threat of ideological extremism and terrorism doesn’t appear on most such lists. After all, we all know Al-Qaeda has been degraded; Islamic State defeated; the Taliban struggling to govern. Most importantly, Iran, the sponsor of so many terrorist groups operating in so many countries, at the least has been wrong-footed by the Israelis.
But, what if that benign assessment is wrong? In fact, that’s the well-informed view of today’s guest on New Thinking for a New World. Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, a Singapore academic, is a widely recognized expert on global terrorism who believes that the threat of terrorism is rising—and is urging the great powers to develop a coherent anti-terrorism strategy as they did after 9/11, before it is too late.
What do you think? Should we fear a new wave of fundamentalist terror assaults?
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ABOUT OUR GUEST
Rohan Gunaratna is Professor of Security Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technology University, and the founder of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research in Singapore. He was the architect of ASEAN OUR EYES, the regional counter terrorism network.
He received his Masters from the University of Notre Dame in the US where he was Hesburgh Scholar and his doctorate from the University of St Andrews in the UK where he was British Chevening Scholar. A former Senior Fellow at the Combating Terrorism Centre at the United States Military Academy at West Point and at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Gunaratna was invited to testify on the structure of al Qaeda before the 9/11 Commission.
The author of 20 books including Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror (University of Columbia Press), Gunaratna edited the Insurgency and Terrorism Series of the Imperial College Press, London. He is a trainer for national security agencies, law enforcement authorities and military counter terrorism units, interviewed terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia and other conflict zones. For advancing international security and intelligence cooperation, Gunaratna received the Major General Ralph H. Van Deman Award
Henry Kissinger’s trusted associate Alan Stoga highlight the most deadly conflict zones in a conversation with a world authority on national security Professor Rohan Gunaratna. The podcast is very timely for the world leaders to understand the threat and to develop appropriate responses. Let’s act to restore peace and security before it is too late.
Professor Dr Mohd Mizan Aslam
Professor in Security & Counter Terrorism
Nation Defence University of Malaysia
Interesting discussion. In addition to the ongoing threat posed by Islamist VEOs, including Iranian proxies, it is also important not to underestimate the threat posed by violent white nationalist extremist groups who are empowered by populist leaders.
Excellent discussion. More and more the consensus is building that world leaders are not handling matters adequately. A multipolar world is inevitable, asia is rising, conflict is simmering, how are we going to handle this without endless wars?
Well done as always Rohan. You have cogently identified the global challenges and offered advice on how to address both the immediate security challenges, as well as a longer term way to address the underlying issues.
The author of 20 books including Inside al Qaeda: Global Network of Terror (University of Columbia Press), Gunaratna edited the Insurgency and Terrorism Series of the Imperial College Press, London. He is a trainer for national security agencies, law enforcement authorities and military counter terrorism units, interviewed terrorists and insurgents in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia and other conflict zones. For advancing international security and intelligence cooperation, Gunaratna received the Major General Ralph H. Van Demand Award. Not only Afghanistan, Pakistan also included Bangladesh. This country minority decreasing day by day due to torture by the Terrorist and fundamentalist .