Bernard Loesi

Bernard Loesi is a PhD candidate at the Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle. His research focuses on ideological violence and the intersection of deradicalization and international development studies. Bernard examines how certain religiously-devoted individuals seek social change through violence. He specifically investigates how some of those militants decide to reject their once-embraced radical doctrines, abandon their militant networks, and denounce the use of violence. Bernard synthesizes various empirical research findings from different geographical and religious contexts and uses Indonesia as the main case analysis.

His peer-reviewed journal articles include “Why U.S Development Aid Fails to Counter Violent Extremism in Indonesia” published in Journal of Foreign Affairs, and “Are They Not Religious? Capturing the Rise of Religious Militancy” (reviewed). He holds a Master in Public Administration from Ateneo de Davao University and earns his BA in International Relations from Universitas Jayabaya.