Islamism in Mindanao, Southern Philippines: Moderates, Radicals and Extremists

This chapter focuses on the development of Islamism in the Moro struggle – its emergence, the inroads of jihadism, the deradicalisation of the MILF and the possible resurgence of jihadism – and the factors that have brought about the twists and turns in Islamism’s development. It also discusses the roles that the Philippine state and other actors have played in how Islamism has evolved in Mindanao. International developments, such as the spread of Islamist ideas, especially those of radical Islamist thinkers, and the Soviet-Afghan War and its immediate aftermath, as well as domestic developments – breakdowns in the Mindanao peace process – were the main factors for the rise of Islamism in the Moro struggle, and also later, for the major inroads of its violent extremist form, jihadism.