Organisation vs. Ideology: The Lessons from Southeast Asia

TY - JOUR

T1 - Organisation vs. Ideology:

T2 - The Lessons from Southeast Asia

AU - Smith, M.L.R.

PY - 2011

Y1 - 2011

N2 - The nature and extent of the jihadist threat in Southeast Asia was not fully understood until well after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. In the aftermath of those attacks, states in Southeast Asia appeared to move quickly to quash the putative threats in their own countries. Both the Singaporean and Malaysian authorities, for example, detained a number of suspected Islamist militants in late 2001.1 Nevertheless, official and academic opinion remained for at least another year largely indifferent to the transnational terrorist network that had established itself in Southeast Asia.2 This indifference and neglect was all the more surprising given the often intrusive intelligence agencies in many Southeast Asian countries. However, these too apparently failed to identify the evolving threat in their midst and the growing danger jihadism posed to regional order.3 The October 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, which killed 202 people, changed all of this. Those attacks brought to the world’s attention the existence of a sophisticated, regionally-networked web of jihadist activity in Southeast Asia.

AB - The nature and extent of the jihadist threat in Southeast Asia was not fully understood until well after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. In the aftermath of those attacks, states in Southeast Asia appeared to move quickly to quash the putative threats in their own countries. Both the Singaporean and Malaysian authorities, for example, detained a number of suspected Islamist militants in late 2001.1 Nevertheless, official and academic opinion remained for at least another year largely indifferent to the transnational terrorist network that had established itself in Southeast Asia.2 This indifference and neglect was all the more surprising given the often intrusive intelligence agencies in many Southeast Asian countries. However, these too apparently failed to identify the evolving threat in their midst and the growing danger jihadism posed to regional order.3 The October 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali, Indonesia, which killed 202 people, changed all of this. Those attacks brought to the world’s attention the existence of a sophisticated, regionally-networked web of jihadist activity in Southeast Asia.

KW - Islamist Terrorism

KW - Terrorism

KW - Counterterrorism

M3 - Article

SN - 1940-834X

VL - 12

SP - 92

EP - 123

JO - Current Trends in Islamist Ideology

JF - Current Trends in Islamist Ideology

IS - 1

ER -