Simmons College

Zachary Abuza, Professor of Political Science at Simmons College, Boston, specializes in Southeast Asian politics and security issues. He is a graduate of Trinity College and received his MALD and PHD from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. From 2010-2012 he served as Professor of National Security Strategy at the National War College at the National Defense University.

He is the author of four books including, Conspiracy of Silence: The Insurgency in Southern Thailand and its Implications for Southeast Asian Security (US Institute of Peace, 2009), Muslims, Politics and Violence in Indonesia (Routledge, 2006), Militant Islam in Southeast Asia (Lynne Rienner, 2003) and Renovating Politics in Contemporary Vietnam (Lynne Rienner, 2001). He has also authored a study for the Institute of National Security Studies, The Ongoing Insurgency in Southern Thailand: Trends in Violence, Counterinsurgency Operations and the Impact of National Politics (2011), a study for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, The Philippines: Internal and External Security Challenges (2012), and two studies for the National Bureau of Asian Research, entitled Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya, NBR Analysis (2003) and Uncivil Islam: Muslims, Politics and Violence in Indonesia, NBR Analysis (2004). The US Army War College's Security Studies Institute published his monograph, Balik Terrorism: The Return of the Abu Sayyaf Group in 2005. A study of Jemaah Islamiyah's overt strategy of engaging in social welfare and charitable works, entitled "Jemaah Islamiyah: Indonesia's Hezbollah," was published in the Winter 2009 edition of Middle East Quarterly. He has completed a chapter on the disengagement and rehabilitation of terrorist suspects in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, "The Rehabilitation of Jemaah Islamiyah Detainees in South East Asia" that was published in, Leaving Terrorism Behind: Disengagement from Political Violence, edited by John Horgan. His chapter on Singapore's defense policy during the Goh Chok Tong years was recently published in Impressions of the Goh Chok Tong Years in Singapore, Bridget Welsh et. al. eds.

He is currently finishing a major study of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which was supported by the United States Institute of Peace and the Smith Richardson Foundation. Professor Abuza authored the Vietnam chapters in the 2004 and 2006 Countries at the Crossroads annual reports for Freedom House; and from 2001-2003 he served as Vietnam country advisor for Amnesty International (USA). Dr. Abuza consults widely and is a frequent commentator on Southeast Asian politics and security issues in the press. He is a visiting guest lecturer at the Foreign Service Institute, US Department of State and at the Department of Defense's Joint Special Operations University. In 2005 he was a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace. He is a frequent contributor to the Jane's Intelligence Review, The Combatting Terrorism Center's Sentinel, and the Jamestown Foundation's Terrorism Monitor. In 2007, he was appointed Senior Fellow at the Jebsen Center for Counter-Terrorism Studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. His current political analysis can be found at http://southeastasiaanalysis.tk/ and http://facebook.com/southeastasiaanalysis.

Professor Abuza sits on the International Relations Steering Committee. He has served as Chairman of the Department of Political Science and International Relations, chaired the Warburg Chair in International Relations search committee, and served on the Faculty Fiscal Affairs Committee. In AY2012-2013, Professor Abuza will teach POLS 102 Intro to International Relations (both semesters), POLS 225 The International Politics of East Asia, POLS 245 The Politics of Newly Industrialized Countries: Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, POLS 220 International Organizations and Law, and a new course on Chinese politics. He also teaches Terrorism (POLS 248) and Human (In)Security (POLS 224) not offered in 2012-13.

When not teaching or conducting field work in Southeast Asia, Professor Abuza can be found in the great outdoors: He is an avid cyclist, sea kayaker, hiker, skier, and fly fisherman. He is a skilled cabinet-maker and builds sea kayaks.