In December 2011, the Australian world traveller, ex-member of the Australian Regular Army and university teacher Warren Richard Rodwell was kidnapped for ransom in the Mindanao region of the southern Philippines by a group of criminals claiming to be members of the notorious terrorist/insurgent organisation the Abu Sayyaf Group. This particular group had loose ties with other insurgent groups that were indulging in similar criminal activity in the greater Sulu Archipelago area including the Zamboanga peninsular – where Rodwell was abducted. Rodwell was kept prisoner for a total of 472 days making him the longest held Australian captive outside of official Prisoners-of-War (POWs). During his 472 days of captivity he was moved between various jungle hideouts in the Islands of Basilan and Tawi-Tawi, eventually being freed by his captors only a few kilometres from where he was originally kidnapped. His tale of survival is made all the more remarkable considering he endured an untreated gunshot wound and an almost starvation diet – losing over one third of his body weight – and was forced to walk and climb in oppressive heat and under constant threat of being beheaded. When he was finally released in March 2013 he was emaciated, physically and emotionally at the lowest point in his life, and totally bewildered. During his period of obligatory debriefing by both Philippine and Australian authorities, an amazing tale of survival unfolded. Rodwell’s determination to overcome all obstacles in his path to eventual freedom is the quintessence of all that is dear in life – life itself.

The fragmented Abu Sayyaf may be many things, but insurgents fighting for liberation they are not. The various groups, with many leaders, have descended into murderers and kidnappers who show no compassion for their victims. Their sole motivation, and, indeed, obsession, is greed accompanied by fear. This publication follows the rise of criminality in the greater Mindanao region – especially the Sulu Archipelago provinces – in the context of the participation of major state and non-state players in the suppression of the Moros – indigenous Muslims. The Catholic Church comes in for extensive scrutiny for the power it holds in the region. The 70 plus years of deliberate minoritisation of the Moros by various Philippine administrations are brought into the equation in order to understand why a murderous group such as the Abu Sayyaf has, in the main, so much local support. The waxing and waning of the “fortunes” of the Abu Sayyaf in the 20 plus years of its existence, and the inability of the various Philippine administrations to stamp out this criminality is examined. The criminality and brutality of the group, especially in the time since the death of its late co-founder – Khadaffy Janjalani – is documented. It shows an escalation that defies explanation given the thousands of Philippines troops that have been deployed in the Sulu Archipelago provinces of Sulu and Basilan.

Despite the liberation of Marawi, in the Philippines, from the siege of terrorist groups associated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Philippines continues to confront the virulent threat of terrorism affecting international peace and security. To make sense of what transpired during the Marawi siege and the panoply of security challenges in its aftermath, this book brings together the scholarly analyses of various counter-terrorism experts who examine the siege from a number of perspectives, including the long history of Muslim rebellion in Mindanao and the persistence of the Abu Sayyaf Group, the rise of ISIS in the Philippines, the financing of terrorism, the trauma created by the siege, and the continuing problem of violent extremism in a country long beset by internal armed conflicts. Edited by the Philippines’ top counter-terrorism scholar, the volume offers readers insightful studies on why and how the siege happened by describing the role of various armed groups in the Philippines that have pledged allegiance to ISIS. This is the first effort to examine in-depth the Marawi siege within the larger global terrorism landscape. It will be of interest to scholars, students, journalists, policy makers and laypersons who want to know more about the siege and the continuing threat of terrorism in the Philippines.

In the second decade of the 21st century, the Philippine terrorist organisation the Abu Sayyaf, predominately domiciled in the southern Philippines, added a new dimension to their kidnap-for ransom enterprise – piracy. Accompanied by kidnap-for-ransom as opposed to traditional piracy which, in the main, this involved the robbery of an ocean-going vessel’s crew, cargo, or even the vessel itself. The Abu Sayyaf has been in existence in some form or another for over a quarter of a century in the greater Mindanao region of the southern Philippines. Originally formed with the intention of creating an independent Muslim State in the southern Philippines, it has degenerated into a number of sub-groups whose sole endeavour is now kidnap-for-profit, accompanied in many instances – if a ransom is not paid – by beheading of the kidnap victims. Flush with funds, the various groups were able to purchase small fast-moving vessels and embarked on piracy in the greater Sulu and Celebes Seas region. This publication focuses on the “explosion” of Abu Sayyaf piracy in the region in 2016 and 2017.

The first volume in the Lucy Cavendish College Lecture Series, Coercion and Trust, provides a unique, multi-disciplinary dialogue on the complex links between coercion and trust from perspectives in the social sciences, medicine, and literature, combining high-quality academic research with professional recommendations. Part I analyses adolescent-adult relationships in youth fiction alongside research on the sexual coercion of women, and the link between animal and domestic violence. Part II investigates blind trust and coercion in social media grooming, challenges, and solutions to coercion by misinformation. Part III investigates coercion and trust in migration-detention-deportation, kidnapping in violent political campaigns, and sentencing in rehabilitation. The book makes a significant, original contribution to multi-disciplinary research, professional practice, and advanced development, with theoretical and empirical chapters linking theory, practice, and training. This book will be of interest to academic researchers, professional practitioners, and postgraduate students in research and training in multiple fields across the social sciences, humanities, and medicine, for whom there is no comparable book available worldwide.

In just over a month—that is from mid-December 1944 to mid-January 1945—two crucial Allied “invasions” in Luzon (the northern geographical region of the Philippines) turned the tide in America’s favour in its attempt to liberate the Philippines from Japanese occupation. One invasion was on Mindoro Island, south of Manila, while the other was on the Lingayen Gulf and its environs—on the west coast of Luzon, north of Manila. While the battle of Lingayen Gulf may still have been successful without the assistance of the newly completed air facilities on Mindoro Island, this made the battle a little easier for the Allies. This publication covers the preparation for the invasion of Mindoro Island and its successful operation. In addition, it discusses the huge invasion of the Lingayen Gulf. Particular emphasis is given to the damage caused by the Kamikaze on the hundreds of Allied ships that took part in the Battle of Lingayen Gulf Because the Japanese occupation of the Philippines was such a brutal episode in the War in the Pacific, a section of this book is also devoted to Japanese war crimes. Not all the war criminals involved in atrocities in the Philippines are examined here, but, rather, only those high-ranking officers deemed responsible in some way.

This report describes homegrown violent jihadists and the plots and attacks that have occurred since 9/11. For this report, "homegrown" and "domestic" are terms that describe terrorist activity or plots perpetrated within the United States or abroad by American citizens, legal permanent residents, or visitors radicalized largely within the United States. The report also discusses the radicalization process and the forces driving violent extremist activity. It analyzes post-9/11 domestic jihadist terrorism and describes law enforcement and intelligence efforts to combat terrorism and the challenges associated with those efforts. It also outlines actions underway to build trust and partnership between community groups and government agencies and the tensions that may occur between law enforcement and engagement activities.