Convergence of Terrorism in a Digital Age from a Local to Global Stanpoint: the Case of the MILF (Abstract)

Copyright © 2010 by Chester B Cabalza. All Rights Reserved.

Abstract:

Since the dawn of the information age, terrorist organizations are making use of the cyberspace for their own nefarious purposes. They are using the internet to launch cyber attacks, spread propaganda, employ recruitment, and to gather intelligence on potential targets. This paper explores the possibility of how the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a militant Islamic movement in southern Philippines with cyber capability, represents itself through the cyberspace. Especially in a ‘flat world’ where local connects with global, certainly influences the internalization of local ideologies and religious movements, which ascribe to a global brand of terrorism. The paper shall use data gatherings from training manuals, international conference reports, scholarly books and journals, and the internet as references for this research. Based from these methods, textual analyses and critical examination will be drawn from to substantiate empirical data, guided by security and strategic frameworks.