First, meeting the threat of religious extremism cannot be met by one country alone. The problem, as we have seen, does not respect national borders and thinking that any one nation can go it alone is delusional.
Moreover, our focus cannot solely be on “hard” solutions. As I said at the last Shangri-La Dialogue : “The DAESH threat cannot be resolved by simply bombing certain countries into submission, nor can it be resolved by knee-jerk reactions.” I believed this in 2016 and even more this year.
As such, we must also seek to win the war of ideas. It is not enough to stop terrorist attacks — we must also defeat and discredit the arguments that are used to justify them. Moderation is key. While it has not always been smooth sailing for us, moderation and pluralism has always been at the heart of what Malaysia is. But as I said, we understand that we cannot stand alone. Towards that end, Malaysia has engaged in several initiatives with friends and partners throughout the world.
The King Salman Centre for International Peace (KSCIP), which is a joint initiative between Malaysia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, have just begun operations 4 days ago. The KSCIP will seek to counter terrorism and extremism by promoting peace in our part of the world, working in close contact with other bodies such as the recently launched Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology (GCCEI) in Riyadh.
Of course, much more work will be needed to completely defeat the threat of DAESH, but we would rather do the little that we can, than live out the adage that: “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Remember, evil takes one step forward, when the good choses to sit silent and do nothing. As much as the problem of extremism is a universal one, like it or not, it has been laid upon the door of the global Ummah and we must take leadership in resolving it.
|
