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Follow on Google News | Philippine Ambassador Willy Gaa and Brigadier General (Ret.) Victor Corpus Speak at HSPIPhilippine Ambassador Willy Gaa and retired Brigadier General Victor Corpus discuss the important lessons learned by the Philippine government in its decades-long struggles against both communist and Islamist insurgencies.
Ambassador Gaa began by observing that the United States and the Philippines have much to learn from one another. Gaa reviewed the diverse threats his nation faces, emphasizing history as well—including the fight against communist insurgents since the 1960s; and the targeting of the Philippines in the Bojinka plot, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s first attempt to use planes as terrorist weapons, which served as model for al Qaeda’s 9/11 attacks. The Ambassador argued that despite the apparent diversity of these threats, common conditions—namely poverty and social disenfranchisement— Against this complex background, Mr. Cilluffo asked what lessons the Philippines had learned about “when to look to the soft means . . . and when to look to kinetic and hard power” responses. To this, Ambassador Gaa stated that each situation is unique; however, a combination of hard and soft power is crucial. When asked further by University of Maryland Professor Arie Kruglanski how, specifically, each type of power was exercised against insurgent groups like the NPA or MILF, Gaa stated that hard power was used to defeat militant organizations, while soft power was employed to address the economic and social grievances that help give rise to such groups. Participants, including Ronald Buikema of Johns Hopkins University, queried how past attempts to address underlying social issues had reduced the support, size, and efficacy of anti-government forces. Brigadier General Corpus brought to bear his own insights on this matter, framed by his experience as both a former communist insurgent and, later, as head of Philippine military intelligence. Corpus argued that structural reforms and economic development are vital—for they bring the disenfranchised back into society. “I know why people rebel, because that was my own experience,” See HSPI’s website for audio and video http://www.gwumc.edu/ About the Ambassadors Roundtable Series: The Ambassadors Roundtable Series is designed to provide Ambassadors to the United States and their key diplomatic staff with a forum to discuss current and future counterterrorism and counterinsurgency efforts on a regional or country-specific basis. In an effort to draw upon various insights and experiences, the Ambassadors Roundtable Series builds upon and institutionalizes efforts over the past two years to engage in a dialogue with members of the international community, policymakers, and practitioners. # # # The George Washington University Homeland Security Policy Institute (HSPI) is a nonpartisan “think and do” tank whose mission is to build bridges between theory and practice to advance homeland security through an interdisciplinary approach. End
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