Pastels and Pedophiles: Inside the mind of QAnon

Abstract

in an oversimplification that fails to consider the differing intellectual, experiential, and ideological roots of different forms (379). Saudi-Indonesia bilateral relations, especially co-operation on counterterrorism strategies and programmes, are discussed in Chapter 10. This bilateral cooperation began in 2014, when the Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) was signed between Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries. The DCA covers training, education, counterterrorism, and defence industry cooperation. Signed by Saudi Deputy Defense Minister Prince Salman bin Sultan Al Saud and Indonesian Deputy Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin, it is arguably the first agreement of its sort (397). Overall, the book argues that collaboration on combating terrorism is important for both countries and fruitful for both sides. For Indonesia, where counterterrorism lessons can be learned, many issues lie in the actions of the central government, the societal factors that have enabled it, and the precarious state of “success” against terrorism. As for Saudi Arabia, the ruling family has been central in orchestrating changes in public sectors and fighting terrorism by reforming the government bureaucracy, cutting its connection with religious radical factions, and replacing the religious conservatives with moderates in religious, cultural, and educational institutions (409). This book is recommended for those who would like to understand better the struggles over counterterrorism in Saudi Arabia and Indonesia. It may serve as a starting point for those seeking to prevent and overcome terrorism in other parts of the world and broaden readers’ perspectives on the similarities and differences in two Muslim majority countries and the lessons that can be taken from their experiences. The key contribution lies in its comparative approach, with a focus primarily on Islamist terrorism, although other forms of terrorism are also discussed. Al Qurtuby provides a critical assessment for academic and non-academic communities alike, in a field that has overstated and dramatised the central role and contributions of ideology as the locomotive of the Islamist terrorism carriage without sufficiently considering the plurality of agency (terrorist actors) and the multiple complex roots of terrorism and violent extremism.