Abu Daud Silong, ZAHARAH HASSAN, STEVEN ERİC KRAUSS, Abu Daud SİLONG, Zaharah, HASSAN, Steven Eric KRAUSS

PERCEPTIONS OF THE WAR AGAINST TERRORISM (WAT): A Malaysian Case Study

Though terrorism has existed for more than 2,000 years, the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. broughtinternational repercussions unlike any previously experienced. In response to the attacks, the U.S.immediately attempted to build a broad-based anti-terrorism coalition in what is known as the “Waragainst Terrorism” (WAT) or “War on Terrorism.” Malaysia has its own experiences with terrorism,such as during the ‘communist emergency’ of the 1950s. In light of Malaysia’s unique history inovercoming terrorism and the present-day WAT, this study aimed to explore Malaysian’s perceptionsof the WAT. Findings from the study indicate that Malaysians hold mostly negative views on theWAT, i.e.: they doubt the intentions of the US government; they view the WAT as a fight againstMuslims and as a means for US control; they view the military approach as ineffective; they perceive aconscious effort to link terrorism to Islam; they view the Western media as being insensitive to non-Westerners and they believe that the WAT has had little impact on reducing terrorism due to hiddenpolitical agendas. Qualitative findings from the study stress the need for counter-terrorism policymakers to identify the root-causes of terrorism in order to develop appropriate socio-economicprograms for the poor, marginalized, discontented and discriminated groups in societies

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