The Second Front - Again? The Rising Tide of Global Jihadism in East and Southeast Asia

Mainstream scholarship abounds with assumptions that East and Southeast Asia will not constitute a second front in the international war on terrorism. These assumptions typically rely on different motivations, targets and methods employed by terrorist groups in the region as compared to Middle Eastern groups. This article argues that these assumptions are largely outdated, based on faulty conceptional models, fail to take stock of the growth and popularity of ISIS in the region and the significance of political failures of regional governments to adequately address domestic grievances. The peril has grown in recent years from localized sectarian movements and efforts to obtain political power-sharing to a potential transnational existential threat.