Even before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Central Region faced numerous obstacles to building a stable and prosperous future. The region, which encompasses the Middle East, the Horn of Africa, Central Asia, and South Asia, has been plagued by economic and political uncertainty amidst dramatic shifts in the global power structure. With the pandemic now exacerbating the volatility in this already fragile region, the U.S.’s strategic objectives are rife for re-examination.
A complicated stew of factors such as weakening of established governance systems, the emboldening of extremist individuals and groups through advances in digital technology, the humanitarian crises in Afghanistan and Syria, and the intensification of the great power competition with China and Russia are creating a fertile environment for the growth of violent extremist organizations (VEOs). Such organizations take advantage of vulnerable, aggrieved, and traumatized populations to fuel radicalization, recruitment, and unrest, which further undermine stability and the potential for peace and prosperity.
While it is still early to fully understand how the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic will impact U.S. policy, this book provides a timely analysis of relevant dynamics such as popular radicalization, digital information ecosystems, networks of influence, and new capabilities to recognize and prepare for other such black swan events in the region.
Dr. Adib Farhadi is an assistant professor and faculty director of Executive Education at the University of South Florida. His research, which is at the intersection of religion, politics, and conflict with a particular focus on the “Silk Road” Central and South Asia (CASA) Region, is the subject of his recent book, Countering Violent Extremism by Winning Hearts and Minds. He is the director of the Great Power Competition Conference Series and a frequent presenter on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), Conflict Resolution, Strategic Negotiations and Communication, and Geoeconomics. Formerly Dr. Farhadi served in senior positions for Afghanistan and extensively advised the US government and various other international organizations. Dr. Farhadi earned his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Canberra, M.A. from New York University, and B.S. from East Carolina University.
Dr. Anthony Masys is an affiliate associate professor and former directorof Global Disaster Management, Humanitarian Assistance, and Homeland Security. He is a visiting professor at the International Centre for Policing and Security, University of South Wales. As a former senior Air Force Officer, Dr. Masys has a B.Sc. in Physics and M.Sc. in Underwater Acoustics and Oceanography from the Royal Military College of Canada and a Ph.D. from the University of Leicester. He is the editor-in-chief for Springer Publishing book series: Advanced Sciences and Technologies for Security Applications and holds various advisory board positions with academic journals and books series.
Dr. Masys is an internationally recognized author, speaker, and facilitator and has held workshops on security, visual thinking, design thinking, and systems thinking in Europe, Canada, South America, West Africa, and Asia. He has published extensively in the domains of physics and the social sciences.
His recent books include:
· Opening the Black Box of Human Error
· Networks and Network Analysis for Defence and Security.
· Disaster Management-Enabling Resilience.
· Applications of Systems Thinking and Soft Operations Research for managing complexity.
· Exploring the Security Landscape - non-traditional security challenges.
· Disaster Forensics: understanding root cause and complexity causality.
· Asia/Pacific Security challenges: managing black swans and persistent threats.
· Security by Design
