Cameron Sumpter coordinates the countering/preventing violent extremism (P/CVE) thematic area of a project implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). This European Union-backed initiative (ESIWA) seeks to enhance security cooperation in and with Asia through a range of practical exchanges and engagements. Based in Berlin, Cameron travels to Asia frequently to meet stakeholders and organise activities aimed at building deeper and more constructive connections.

Prior to joining GIZ, Cameron was a Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS). As part of the radicalisation studies programme, Cameron analysed and discussed the policy and practice of preventing violent extremism, particularly in Indonesia, where he conducted regular fieldwork. Cameron is widely published on these themes and has consulted with international organisations such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

• Processes of radicalisation
• P/CVE policy and practice
• Prison-based disengagement strategies

Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses

• Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses (CTTA) - Volume 16 Issue 04

  10 September, 2024

Policy Reports

• CENS Expert Survey on Extremism Report 2: Current Priorities in Counter-terrorism and Prevention

  28 July, 2021

• GNET-CENS Online Workshop on Right Wing Extremism: East and West

  07 May, 2021

• Community Policing to Counter Violent Extremism: Evident Potential and Challenging Realities

  22 September, 2016

RSIS Commentaries

• Backwash of Uncertainty: Exploitation or Service?

  12 May, 2020

• COVID-19: What Changes – and What Doesn’t

  17 April, 2020

• Repatriating Militants: Indonesia’s Dilemma and Its Consequences

  19 February, 2020

• Christchurch Terror Attack: New Zealand’s Multi-Faceted Response

  23 July, 2019

• CO18158 | An ASEAN Way to Prevent Violent Extremism?

  28 September, 2018

• CO17122 | Terror in Finsbury Park: Copycat Retaliation or Cumulative Radicalisation?

  21 June, 2017

• CO16267 | Preventing Violent Extremism in US: Updating the Strategy

  28 October, 2016

• CO16150 | Pedantic Semantics or Strategic Discourse? The Politics of Talking about Terrorism

  17 June, 2016

• CO16060 | To Segregate or Disperse? The Management of Imprisoned Extremists

  21 March, 2016

• CO15280 | Countering Violent Extremism in Australia: Is State Control Effective?

  24 December, 2015

Commemorative / Event Reports

• Religious Nationalism and Extremism in Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and India: Assessing the Impact of Structural Conditions

  17 May, 2022

• CENS Countering Extremism Workshop

  15 December, 2021

• GNET-CENS Workshop: Online Agitators, Extremists and Counter-Messaging in Indonesia

  21 September, 2020

• CENS Workshop: The Age of Rages

  29 April, 2019

• Countering Extremism: Now What?

  17 December, 2018

• The 2018 Southeast Asia Counter-Terrorism Symposium: A Collective Approach

  05 December, 2018

• 12th Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)

  03 August, 2018

Journal Articles

• “Recognizing Trade-Offs in Indonesian Counterterrorism Strategy” (with Alif Satria) in Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol 16, Issue 5, 2022. Pp. 34-45
• “Societal resilience following terrorism: community and coordination in Christchurch” (with Nur Diyanah Anwar) in Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 12, 2020, 3, 2020
• “Realising Violent Extremism Risk Assessments in Indonesia: Simplify and Collaborate” in Journal for Deradicalization, 22, 2020, 97-121
• “Southeast Asian Fighters from Islamic State Leaks: A Historical Snapshot” (with Shashi Jayakumar) in Perspectives on Terrorism, 13, 6, 2019. 58-72
• “Testing Transitions: Extremist Prisoners Re-Entering Indonesian Society” (with Wardhani, Yuslikha K., and Priyanto, Sapto) in Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, Vol. 41, No. 12, 2019. pp. 28-29
• “Migration, Transnational Crime and Terrorism: Exploring the Nexus in Europe and Southeast Asia” (with Joseph Franco) in Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 12, Issue 5, 2018. pp. 36-50
• “Countering Violent Extremism in Indonesia: Priorities, Practice and the Role of Civil Society” in Journal for Deradicalization, VIII, 11, 2018, 112-147

Chapters in Edited Books

• “Individually Targeted Preventions in Indonesia: Effective in Theory, Tricky in Practice” in Shashi Jayakumar (ed), Perspectives on Countering Extremism: Diversion and Disengagement. United Kingdom: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023, pp. 123-142
• “Islamist Governance and PVE Policy in Indonesia: Conceptual Ambiguity and Unintended Consequences” (with Yuslikha Kusama Wardhani) in Joana Cook and Shiraz Maher (eds), The Rule is For None But Allah. London: Hurst Publishers, 2023, pp. 311-328

Working Papers

• Hopes and Hurdles for Indonesia’s National Action Plan to Prevent Violent Extremism (with Yuslikha K. Wardhani), Hopes and Hurdles for Indonesia’s National Action Plan to Prevent Violent Extremism, Washington D.C., 31 March 2022
• Adjustment and Resilience: Preventing Violent Extremism in Indonesia during COVID-19 and beyond, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, (UNODC), 1 February 2021
• Lab-in-Field Experiments for the Reintegration of Violent Extremists: The Promise of Prosocial Evaluation, The RESOLVE Network, Washington, D.C., 28 January 2021
• Returning Indonesian Extremists: Unclear Intentions and Unprepared Responses, ICCT Policy Brief, The Hague 9, 12 July 2018

Op-Eds

• “Rehabilitating terrorist prisoners in Southeast Asia: From programs to processes”, The Jakarta Post, 29 March 2023
• “Islamist Militancy in Indonesia and the Philippines: Domestic Lineage and Sporadic Foreign Influence” (with Joseph Franco), International Centre for Counter-Terrorism (ICCT), The Hague, 15 September 2021
• “How should we disengage people from violent extremism?”, Stuff.co.nz, 10 September 2021
• “What Does the Taliban Takeover Mean for Violent Extremism in Indonesia?”, The Diplomat, 23 August 2021
• “Current Priorities in Counterterrorism and Prevention: Results of the CENS Online Expert Survey”, GNET Insights, 4 August 2021
• “Collaboration and Legislation: Confronting Online Violent Extremism from New Zealand”, GNET Insights, 10 May 2021
• “Community Policing is About Building Trust and Legitimacy” (with Indah Amaritasari), The Jakarta Post, 8 February 2021
• “Deradicalisation by Videoconference”, GNET Insights, 18 December 2020
• “Catfishing to Counter Extremism: Lessons from an Indonesian Experiment”, GNET Insights, 14 August 2020
• “Flurry of Violence in Poso Shows Resilient Militancy and Community Support”, Indonesia at Melbourne, 1 May 2020
• “Coordinating Stakeholders to Prevent Violent Extremism”, The Jakarta Post, 29 November 2019
• “The Christchurch Call: A view from Southeast Asia”, Asia New Zealand Foundation, 11 November 2019
• “After the Attack: Supporting Victims of Terrorism in Indonesia”, Lowy Interpreter, 21 August 2019
• “What are the Individual Roots of Each Extremist’s Radicalisation?”, The Press, 25 July 2019
• “Terrorism in Christchurch: Response and Resilience” (with Nur Diyanah Anwar), The Straits Times, 21 March 2019
• “Reintegration in Indonesia: Extremists, Start-Ups and Occasional Engagements”, ICCT Perspective, 19 February 2019
• “An Inadvertent Terrorist” (with Yuslikha Wardhani), Inside Indonesia, 19 February 2019
• “Curbing radical sermons in Indonesia” (with Wardhani Yuslikha), East Asia Forum, 12 December 2018
• “Terror suspects’ riot in Jakarta underscores prison problems”, Lowy Interpreter, 28 May 2018
• “Extremism in Indonesia is a family affair”, East Asia Forum, 18 May 2018
• “Countering youth radicalisation in Indonesia”, Lowy Interpreter, 12 March 2018
• “Aman Abdurrahman: Leading Indonesia’s Jihadists from Behind Bars”, The Diplomat, 2 March 2018
• “Why neighbourhood policing is critical to preventing terrorism”, Lowy Interpreter, 11 January 2018
• “Indonesian jihadism: increased intensity but familiar strategy”, The ASPI Strategist, 8 January 2018
• “After the Caliphate Chapter”, IHRASS 2017 Think Piece, 12 October 2017
• “Reintegrating Extremist Prisoners in Indonesia: Easier Said Than Done”, The Diplomat, 16 March 2017
• “Skateboarding Inmates away from Extremism”, The Dominion Post, 10 March 2017
• “Indonesia’s De-Radicalisation Blueprint”, Lowy Interpreter, 5 February 2016
• “Disillusioned Defectors Key To Rebutting Islamic State Rhetoric”, Lowy Interpreter, 5 February 2016

• Speaker/Moderator, CENS Countering Extremism Workshop, Violent Extremism in Indonesia: Updates and Evolution, 8 November 2021, Singapore [via Zoom]
• Panellist, Central Asia Regional Conference on Rehabilitation of Returnees from Combat Zones, 26-28 October 2021, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan [via Zoom]
• Panellist, Bird’s Eye View: Inside Violent Extremism Disengagement and Reconciliation Programs, United States Institute for Peace (USIP), 20 July 2021, Washington DC [via Zoom]
• Speaker, He Whenua Taurikura: New Zealand’s Hui on Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism, 15-16 June 2021, Christchurch, New Zealand [via Zoom]
• Speaker, Briefing to United Nations outlining research on the implications of COVID-19 for Counterterrorism and Preventing/Countering Violent Extremism in Indonesia, 6 October 2020 [via Teams]
• Moderator, CENS-GNET Workshop: The Fusion of Offline and Online Interventions against Extremism in the Philippines, 16 December 2020 [via Zoom]
• Moderator, CENS-GNET Workshop: Online Agitators, Extremists and Counter-Messaging in Indonesia, 25 August 2020 [via Zoom]
• Speaker, Glocal Islamism 2019: Phenomena, Interdependencies, Prevention, Federal Agency of Civic Education (BPB), Germany, 15-17 October 2019, Potsdam, Germany
• Speaker, 12^th ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand (AANZ) Dialogue, 22-24 September 2019, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Speaker, Countering Extremism Workshop, Centre of Excellence for National Security, 16-17 September 2019, Singapore
• Speaker, Terrorism: Survey of Psychological Variables, Social Network Analysis and Community Resilience, Nanyang Technological University, 25 July 2019
• Speaker, Thailand’s ASEAN Chairmanship 2019, 2-4 December 2018, Bangkok, Thailand