Myanmar: The Rohingya Crises as an Analytic Lens to Understanding Violent Extremism

Abstract

On November 28, 2016, an Ohio State University student drove his car into pedestrians on campus. He then exited the vehicle and stabbed multiple people with a butcher’s knife before a law enforcement officer killed him. Mere minutes prior to the attack, the 18-year-old student complained in a Facebook post that he had reached a “boiling point” and was “sick and tired” of seeing Muslims around the globe “killed and tortured.” While his post began with a broad condemnation of anti-Muslim violence “everywhere,” it then referenced the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, specifically. The attacker’s stated motivations - no matter how unjustified and reprehensible his actions - are significant for a number of reasons. First, the attack demonstrates the international ripple effects that a humanitarian and human rights crisis seemingly regional in nature have in an increasingly interconnected world. Second, it evidences the myriad factors that “push” or “pull” individuals - from Myanmar to the United States - towards violent extremism. Third, it also illustrates how extremist violence creates a cycle that culminates not only in mass migration but transnational violence. This chapter explores these themes in greater depth, employing the Rohingya crises in Myanmar as its analytic lens to better understand violent extremism in both minority and non-minority contexts.