Overview:

A sectarian-based insurgency has raged in southern Thailand since January 2004, leaving three thousand dead and thousands more injured.  Although southern Thailand has witnessed numerous periods of secessionist conflict, the present insurgency is different in three significant ways: it has jihadist overtones, the degree and scope of the violence has never been greater, and today's insurgents are unified in terms of ideology and goals, both of which are rooted in a more hard-line and less tolerant interpretation of Islam.  Drawing on his newly published U.S. Institute of Peace volume, Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand, Zachary Abuza and panelists will discuss an overlooked and brewing insurgency in southern Thailand and will address its impact on Thailand, Southeast Asia, and the global war on terror.

The book will be available for purchase at the event.

Speakers

Zachary Abuza, Former U.S. Institute of Peace Jennings Randolph Senior Fellow (2004-2005), Professor and Chairman, Department of Political Science, Simmons College, Author of Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand

Catharin Dalpino, Director of Thai Studies and Visiting Associate Professor, Georgetown University

Sadanand Dhume, Non-Resident Fellow, Asia Society

Daniel Brumberg, Moderator, Acting Director of the Muslim World Initiative, U.S. Institute of Peace

Media Inquiries

Please contact Lauren Sucher (lsucher@usip.org) in the Office of Public Affairs and Communications

Other Inquiries

Please direct all other inquiries to Janene Sawers (jsawers@usip.org)