EVENTS

April 16, 2019

Terrorism in Southeast Asia: A Current State of Affairs

The Salon Series, a collaborative event series between The Soufan Center and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, hosted an intimate roundtable event featuring renowned terrorism expert Sidney Jones entitled: “Terrorism in Southeast Asia: A Current State of Affairs.”

With the global coalition to fight the Islamic State mobilized in Syria and Iraq, international attention stayed focused on terrorism in the Middle East. Yet as the caliphate continued to lose territory, ISIS affiliates and other terrorist groups began to increase their activities in other parts of the world. Alarmingly, pro-ISIS groups in Southeast Asia have evolved as ISIS territory steadily declined in Iraq and Syria.

Looking at the increasingly dangerous region of Southeast Asia, the event discussed why foreign fighters have thus far not become the problem many expected, but how the collapse of the caliphate has had a detrimental impact nonetheless. The event explored exactly where the most serious risk of violence is centered in Indonesia and the Philippines, and how regional linkages are playing out. The effectiveness of counter-terrorism policies in the region were evaluated. Particular attention was paid to why terrorists and hardline Islamist political activists have had such little overlap in Indonesia — and whether there is any prospect of this changing in the country with the world’s largest Muslim population.

This event took place in New York City on Tuesday 16 April 2019. The discussion was moderated by Meredith Stricker, Executive Director of The Soufan Center.

About The Salon Series

The Soufan Center Salon Series offers informed, collaborative, provocative, and exclusive discussions that explore critical issues in the fields of international law, global and human security, human rights, political and religious violence, ideology and rhetoric, and more.

For more information on events please email info@thesoufancenter.org