Review: Sleeping on Future Terror Threats in Southeast Asia?
New book reveals the future shape of emerging security threats in Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region beyond the past iterations of terrorism.
A new book reveals the future shape of emerging security threats in Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region beyond the past iterations of terrorism and violent extremism.
WonkCount: 1,447 words (~6 minutes)
Review: Sleeping on Future Terror Threats in Southeast Asia?
Context
“[T]hey are tailored to exploit external developments such as the situation in Gaza,” warned a recent Singapore government security report on the evolving terrorist landscape in Southeast Asia1. While media coverage of the report was limited amid the flood of speculation over tariff deals, it was the latest in a series of periodic datapoints which have raised the question of the future shape of a potential next wave of terrorism in the region and the differences relative to past iterations after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks and the fight against the Islamic State in the 2010s.
Select Recent Security-Related Engagements and Developments in Southeast Asia
A new book Jemaah Islamiyah, ISIS and Beyond by scholar Kumar Ramakrishna attempts to shed light on the future shape of emerging security threats in Southeast Asia and the wider Indo-Pacific region beyond the past iterations of terrorism and violent extremism2. In doing so, the work adds to the relatively few book-length studies on regional terrorism trends relative to the greater number of past monographs on individual insurgencies or recent works (including ones reviewed over here on ASEAN Wonk) on the role of subnational actors such as the United Wa State Army in Myanmar as an ethnic armed organization or the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as a political unit3. “[T]he continually evolving threat of terrorism and violent extremism remains a serious concern, fully deserving policy attention and resources,” the book notes after going through a list of future trends and developments to monitor in the coming years in this space4.
Analysis
The book also forecasts future policy pathways to watch in the coming years and their wider regional and global implications (see originally-generated ASEAN Wonk table below for a summary of these critical areas, along with major policy cooperation areas and key domains. Paying subscribers can also read the rest of the “Analysis” section and “Implications” section looking at how these dynamics play out in the future).
Future Datapoints to Watch Across Key Domains Along with Notable Additional Details
