Rashmi Singh | PUC Minas (original) (raw)
Books by Rashmi Singh
Papers by Rashmi Singh
The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies
Revista de Sociologia e Política, 2015
This paper offers an analysis of the illiberal practices and discourse of the Global War on Terro... more This paper offers an analysis of the illiberal practices and discourse of the Global War on Terror (GWoT) and demonstrates how the United States of America used the liberal argument as a qualitative metric of its success and failure in the GWoT. I argue that ‘the othering’ of Salafi Jihadists as well the full military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq were both philosophically rooted in the liberal thinking of Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, which have traditionally guided US foreign policy. More significantly, these liberal philosophies of history and international relations hold within them the seeds of illiberalism by depicting non-liberal, undemocratic societies/organisations as ‘barbaric’ – and as such prime candidates for intervention and regime change. Predicated upon this logic, the discourse of the GWoT framed Al Qaeda as a key existential threat to not only the United States but also the ‘civilised world’ in general and one which required a ‘liberal defensive war’ in...
Non-Western responses to terrorism, 2019
The unprecedented overlap between terrorism and insurgency in India represents a key challenge to... more The unprecedented overlap between terrorism and insurgency in India represents a key challenge to formulating an understanding of terrorism and counter-terrorism (CT) in this region. This chapter discusses the emergence and evolution of key terrorist threats in the country to illustrate how terrorism in the subcontinent falls into two distinct categories, i.e. ‘pure terrorism’ as practiced by what are best described as ‘incorrigible terrorist groups’ and ‘hybrid threats’, a complex amalgamation of insurgency and terrorism utilised by what are essentially ‘corrigible’ groups. I then discuss how India’s inability to distinguish between these two very different threats results in what tends towards a lethal, kinetic response characteristic of counter-terrorism even as its language remains within a population-centric ‘hearts and minds’ framework more obviously associated with traditional counter-insurgency (COIN). This tendency to ‘act CT but speak COIN’ is a key reason both India’s CT and COIN strategies remain short-sighted, muddled and under-developed. However, newly emergent threats make it imperative that India urgently recalibrate and reconsider these responses.
The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism, 2019
Since the phenomenon of modern suicide terrorism first emerged in Lebanon in the early 1980s it h... more Since the phenomenon of modern suicide terrorism first emerged in Lebanon in the early 1980s it has increased exponentially in both number and geographical range. However, despite this spike and the concomitant surge in its study, there is still no real clear consensus on key issues. As a result, explanations remain imprecise and unevenly developed and datasets continue to remain incomplete and/or incompatible. This chapter outlines some key controversies that plague the study of suicide terrorism including the debates surrounding the use of terminology as well as key definitional issues. Having outlined these main controversies, this chapter then sheds light on what is perhaps the central puzzle for scholars studying this phenomenon, i.e. the rationality underpinning a suicide attack.
The Oxford Handbook of Indian National Security, 2018
The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of India’s experience with terrorism within its... more The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of India’s experience with terrorism within its sovereign borders since it achieved independence in 1947. From its very inception, the democratic republic of India has been confronted by an unusually diverse range of terrorist violence. Not only has India produced an unenviably high number of home-grown terrorist groups that operate within its borders, it has also shown itself to be particularly vulnerable to the threat of both cross-border and transnational terrorism. At the same time, for a state that has faced such long-standing, complex challenges to its sovereignty, legitimacy and integrity, India’s counter-terrorism (CT) policies and responses remain surprisingly one-dimensional and underdeveloped.
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism , 2017
The importance of understanding how terrorist organisations learn and innovate cannot be oversta... more The importance of understanding how terrorist organisations learn and
innovate cannot be overstated. Yet there is a remarkable paucity of literature systematically addressing this subject. This article contributes to an evolving conceptualization in this area by proposing a preliminary typology of learning and innovation as undertaken by modern jihadist groups. It identifies and discusses four categories: a) intergroup learning within a single domestic setting; b) inter-group
learning between two or more local groups across a state or national boundary; c) inter-group learning between a transnational group and one or more domestic
groups, and finally; d) intra-group learning or ‘self-learning’.
This paper offers an analysis of the illiberal practices and discourse of the Global War on Terro... more This paper offers an analysis of the illiberal practices and discourse of the Global War on Terror (GWoT) and demonstrates how the United States of America used the liberal argument as a qualitative metric of its success and failure in the GWoT. I argue that the ‘the othering’ of Salafi Jihadists as well the full military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq were both philosophically rooted in the liberal thinking of Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, which have traditionally guided US foreign policy. More significantly, these liberal philosophies of history and international relations hold within them the seeds of illiberalism by depicting non-liberal, undemocratic societies/organisations as ‘barbaric’ – and as such prime candidates for intervention and regime change. Predicated upon this logic, the discourse of the GWoT framed Al Qaeda as a key existential threat to not only the United States but also the ‘civilised world’ in general and one which required a ‘liberal defensive war’ in response. It was the successful securitisation of Al Qaeda that essentially enabled the United States to adopt deeply illiberal policies to counter this so-called existential threat by using any means at its disposal.
Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-terrorism, 2015
This paper assesses the US-led counter-terrorism (CT) response to the September 2001 attacks on t... more This paper assesses the US-led counter-terrorism (CT) response to the September 2001 attacks on the American homeland in order to gauge the successes and failures of the Global War on Terror. It concludes that successes against transnational terrorist threat, as represented by Al Qaeda (AQ) and its affiliates, have been far and few in between. Instead, the past decade has been marked by a failure to meet set goals for a number of reasons, including but not limited to: the shifting character of war, the absence of a long-term strategic vision, the unintended fallout of CT policies adopted - all of which have concomitantly fuelled AQ’s virulent ideology. However, our CT failures hold crucial lessons for the future and the paper concludes by outlining how they can enable us to translate our past failures into future successes
In this paper I focus upon the emergence of the Palestinian discourse of heroic martyrdom and dem... more In this paper I focus upon the emergence of the Palestinian discourse of heroic martyrdom and demonstrate how it has traditionally sustained and propelled the Palestinian struggle for national self-determination. Thus, I explore how this discourse is founded upon the seemingly contradictory narratives of Palestinian victimhood and Palestinian heroism, which are not only rooted in historical experience but also form the bedrock of Palestinian collective belonging and national resistance. I argue that by understanding how these culturally resonant narratives are appropriated, altered and eventually resolved under the overarching discourse of heroic martyrdom by Hamas, we can understand not only the cyclical passive-active nature of the Palestinian resistance movement but also how suicide bombers can be framed simultaneously as victims, heroes and martyrs in Palestinian society.
This work focuses on Hamas’s use of religion and ideology to legitimize its use of political viol... more This work focuses on Hamas’s use of religion and ideology to legitimize its use of political violence within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In particular, I focus upon how Hamas, like other groups before it, has appropriated and (re)interpreted a core component of Palestinian national identity, i.e. the culturally entrenched and socially resonant norm of Palestinian heroic warfare that manifests itself as active and passive heroic resistance under conditions of occupation. This has effectively enabled the group to establish political legitimacy, garner civilian support and justify its use of political violence. This work also underscores the interplay between the active and passive faces of heroic resistance by illustrating how Palestinian active (i.e. armed) resistance is founded upon the elements of sumud (steadfastness) and sabr (patience), which are in fact the key signifiers of passive Palestinian identity and resistance. Hence, passive and active signifiers of resistance are located as an enduring feature of the Palestinian national struggle, used and re-used in the politico-ideological tracks of successive political organizations. However, Hamas’s particular practice and discourse of territorial struggle has not only propelled and reinterpreted this norm but in doing so, has blurred traditional boundaries between civilians and combatants while also continuing to foster the notion of ‘heroic warfare’ in Palestinian society.
This article addresses some of the key challenges faced when attempting to conduct fieldwork as a... more This article addresses some of the key challenges faced when attempting to conduct fieldwork as a solitary researcher in a conflict zone with very little in the way of funds. The author’s experience in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) is used here to outline how to setup and conduct fieldwork with minimal resources and a handful of contacts to begin with, the logistical and practical hurdles that may arise in such an endeavour as well as some mechanisms to overcome these challenges without compromising the integrity of the research project at hand. Other issues such as how to address region specific challenges including entering the OPTs and travelling in the region are also covered. The paper also provides tips on a range of issues including, how to successfully manage prevalent risks and follow up on interviews when budgetary constraints prevent another trip back into the region.
Talks by Rashmi Singh
The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Peace and Conflict Studies
Revista de Sociologia e Política, 2015
This paper offers an analysis of the illiberal practices and discourse of the Global War on Terro... more This paper offers an analysis of the illiberal practices and discourse of the Global War on Terror (GWoT) and demonstrates how the United States of America used the liberal argument as a qualitative metric of its success and failure in the GWoT. I argue that ‘the othering’ of Salafi Jihadists as well the full military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq were both philosophically rooted in the liberal thinking of Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, which have traditionally guided US foreign policy. More significantly, these liberal philosophies of history and international relations hold within them the seeds of illiberalism by depicting non-liberal, undemocratic societies/organisations as ‘barbaric’ – and as such prime candidates for intervention and regime change. Predicated upon this logic, the discourse of the GWoT framed Al Qaeda as a key existential threat to not only the United States but also the ‘civilised world’ in general and one which required a ‘liberal defensive war’ in...
Non-Western responses to terrorism, 2019
The unprecedented overlap between terrorism and insurgency in India represents a key challenge to... more The unprecedented overlap between terrorism and insurgency in India represents a key challenge to formulating an understanding of terrorism and counter-terrorism (CT) in this region. This chapter discusses the emergence and evolution of key terrorist threats in the country to illustrate how terrorism in the subcontinent falls into two distinct categories, i.e. ‘pure terrorism’ as practiced by what are best described as ‘incorrigible terrorist groups’ and ‘hybrid threats’, a complex amalgamation of insurgency and terrorism utilised by what are essentially ‘corrigible’ groups. I then discuss how India’s inability to distinguish between these two very different threats results in what tends towards a lethal, kinetic response characteristic of counter-terrorism even as its language remains within a population-centric ‘hearts and minds’ framework more obviously associated with traditional counter-insurgency (COIN). This tendency to ‘act CT but speak COIN’ is a key reason both India’s CT and COIN strategies remain short-sighted, muddled and under-developed. However, newly emergent threats make it imperative that India urgently recalibrate and reconsider these responses.
The Oxford Handbook of Terrorism, 2019
Since the phenomenon of modern suicide terrorism first emerged in Lebanon in the early 1980s it h... more Since the phenomenon of modern suicide terrorism first emerged in Lebanon in the early 1980s it has increased exponentially in both number and geographical range. However, despite this spike and the concomitant surge in its study, there is still no real clear consensus on key issues. As a result, explanations remain imprecise and unevenly developed and datasets continue to remain incomplete and/or incompatible. This chapter outlines some key controversies that plague the study of suicide terrorism including the debates surrounding the use of terminology as well as key definitional issues. Having outlined these main controversies, this chapter then sheds light on what is perhaps the central puzzle for scholars studying this phenomenon, i.e. the rationality underpinning a suicide attack.
The Oxford Handbook of Indian National Security, 2018
The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of India’s experience with terrorism within its... more The aim of this chapter is to provide an overview of India’s experience with terrorism within its sovereign borders since it achieved independence in 1947. From its very inception, the democratic republic of India has been confronted by an unusually diverse range of terrorist violence. Not only has India produced an unenviably high number of home-grown terrorist groups that operate within its borders, it has also shown itself to be particularly vulnerable to the threat of both cross-border and transnational terrorism. At the same time, for a state that has faced such long-standing, complex challenges to its sovereignty, legitimacy and integrity, India’s counter-terrorism (CT) policies and responses remain surprisingly one-dimensional and underdeveloped.
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism , 2017
The importance of understanding how terrorist organisations learn and innovate cannot be oversta... more The importance of understanding how terrorist organisations learn and
innovate cannot be overstated. Yet there is a remarkable paucity of literature systematically addressing this subject. This article contributes to an evolving conceptualization in this area by proposing a preliminary typology of learning and innovation as undertaken by modern jihadist groups. It identifies and discusses four categories: a) intergroup learning within a single domestic setting; b) inter-group
learning between two or more local groups across a state or national boundary; c) inter-group learning between a transnational group and one or more domestic
groups, and finally; d) intra-group learning or ‘self-learning’.
This paper offers an analysis of the illiberal practices and discourse of the Global War on Terro... more This paper offers an analysis of the illiberal practices and discourse of the Global War on Terror (GWoT) and demonstrates how the United States of America used the liberal argument as a qualitative metric of its success and failure in the GWoT. I argue that the ‘the othering’ of Salafi Jihadists as well the full military involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq were both philosophically rooted in the liberal thinking of Immanuel Kant and John Stuart Mill, which have traditionally guided US foreign policy. More significantly, these liberal philosophies of history and international relations hold within them the seeds of illiberalism by depicting non-liberal, undemocratic societies/organisations as ‘barbaric’ – and as such prime candidates for intervention and regime change. Predicated upon this logic, the discourse of the GWoT framed Al Qaeda as a key existential threat to not only the United States but also the ‘civilised world’ in general and one which required a ‘liberal defensive war’ in response. It was the successful securitisation of Al Qaeda that essentially enabled the United States to adopt deeply illiberal policies to counter this so-called existential threat by using any means at its disposal.
Illusions of Terrorism and Counter-terrorism, 2015
This paper assesses the US-led counter-terrorism (CT) response to the September 2001 attacks on t... more This paper assesses the US-led counter-terrorism (CT) response to the September 2001 attacks on the American homeland in order to gauge the successes and failures of the Global War on Terror. It concludes that successes against transnational terrorist threat, as represented by Al Qaeda (AQ) and its affiliates, have been far and few in between. Instead, the past decade has been marked by a failure to meet set goals for a number of reasons, including but not limited to: the shifting character of war, the absence of a long-term strategic vision, the unintended fallout of CT policies adopted - all of which have concomitantly fuelled AQ’s virulent ideology. However, our CT failures hold crucial lessons for the future and the paper concludes by outlining how they can enable us to translate our past failures into future successes
In this paper I focus upon the emergence of the Palestinian discourse of heroic martyrdom and dem... more In this paper I focus upon the emergence of the Palestinian discourse of heroic martyrdom and demonstrate how it has traditionally sustained and propelled the Palestinian struggle for national self-determination. Thus, I explore how this discourse is founded upon the seemingly contradictory narratives of Palestinian victimhood and Palestinian heroism, which are not only rooted in historical experience but also form the bedrock of Palestinian collective belonging and national resistance. I argue that by understanding how these culturally resonant narratives are appropriated, altered and eventually resolved under the overarching discourse of heroic martyrdom by Hamas, we can understand not only the cyclical passive-active nature of the Palestinian resistance movement but also how suicide bombers can be framed simultaneously as victims, heroes and martyrs in Palestinian society.
This work focuses on Hamas’s use of religion and ideology to legitimize its use of political viol... more This work focuses on Hamas’s use of religion and ideology to legitimize its use of political violence within the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In particular, I focus upon how Hamas, like other groups before it, has appropriated and (re)interpreted a core component of Palestinian national identity, i.e. the culturally entrenched and socially resonant norm of Palestinian heroic warfare that manifests itself as active and passive heroic resistance under conditions of occupation. This has effectively enabled the group to establish political legitimacy, garner civilian support and justify its use of political violence. This work also underscores the interplay between the active and passive faces of heroic resistance by illustrating how Palestinian active (i.e. armed) resistance is founded upon the elements of sumud (steadfastness) and sabr (patience), which are in fact the key signifiers of passive Palestinian identity and resistance. Hence, passive and active signifiers of resistance are located as an enduring feature of the Palestinian national struggle, used and re-used in the politico-ideological tracks of successive political organizations. However, Hamas’s particular practice and discourse of territorial struggle has not only propelled and reinterpreted this norm but in doing so, has blurred traditional boundaries between civilians and combatants while also continuing to foster the notion of ‘heroic warfare’ in Palestinian society.
This article addresses some of the key challenges faced when attempting to conduct fieldwork as a... more This article addresses some of the key challenges faced when attempting to conduct fieldwork as a solitary researcher in a conflict zone with very little in the way of funds. The author’s experience in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) is used here to outline how to setup and conduct fieldwork with minimal resources and a handful of contacts to begin with, the logistical and practical hurdles that may arise in such an endeavour as well as some mechanisms to overcome these challenges without compromising the integrity of the research project at hand. Other issues such as how to address region specific challenges including entering the OPTs and travelling in the region are also covered. The paper also provides tips on a range of issues including, how to successfully manage prevalent risks and follow up on interviews when budgetary constraints prevent another trip back into the region.
This work traces the multiple ways in which memory manifests itself within the Israeli-Palestinia... more This work traces the multiple ways in which memory manifests itself within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how it sustains the conflict. It addresses three core manifestations, namely: post-memory, the denial of memory (both internal and external) and opposing narratives of national memory. Marianne Hirsch’s concept of post-memory describes the relationship later generations have to traumatic, often foundational, experiences which precede their birth but that nonetheless are transmitted so effectively that they constitute memories in their own right. Both the Holocaust and al-Nakba serve this purpose and this work traces how their trans-generational transmission within Israeli and Palestinian society acts as a key driver of contemporary violence. This violence is, in turn, founded upon the denial of memory as well as upon opposing narratives of national memory. Thus for both sides in the conflict, the denial of memory includes the refusal to ‘remember’ their own roles in perpetrating violence upon the ‘other’ as well as the denial of this ‘other’s’ temporal and spatial memories. Finally, the paper illustrates how opposing narratives of national memory can be located in the construction and destruction of places of memory, i.e. “the key points of remembering the past through commemorations, monuments, museums, documents and anniversaries”