Foreign Policy Research Institute A Nation Must Think Before it Acts Useful Knowledge: Snouck Hurgronje and Islamic Insurgency in Aceh (Revised)
Useful Knowledge: Snouck Hurgronje and Islamic Insurgency in Aceh (Revised)

Useful Knowledge: Snouck Hurgronje and Islamic Insurgency in Aceh (Revised)

Abstract

Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (1858-1936), a Dutch scholar of Islam, served as a “military anthropologist” during the Aceh war in the Dutch East Indies. The Acehnese fighters viewed their anti-colonial struggle against the Dutch as a jihad, construing themselves religious martyrs fighting “infidel invaders,” and carrying out suicide attacks with a machete or dagger. To combat this insurgency Snouck Hurgronje, one of the first Westerners to visit Mecca and author of many books on Islam, developed the so-called “Aceh method,” which became the basis of modern Dutch counterinsurgency strategy. This article addresses the question: what can we learn from the life and times of Snouck Hurgronje?

Editor’s Note: Due to a production error, an unapproved version of this article appeared in our Fall 2018 issue. We regret this oversight and now publish Dr. McFate’s approved article.

To access this article, click here.