The development of Islamic State (IS) threats in Southeast Asia: case study of terrorism network in Southern Thailand, Malaysia, Southern Philippines and Indonesia: a framework for further research

Terrorism has become a serious international and national issue around the world after September 11, 2001 attack on the US, War on Terror in Afghanistan in 2001, and the second Gulf War in 2003. Al Qaeda is the main source of promoting international terrorism at the early stage of development, which later transformed to various forms of strategy, tactics, and identification of organization before the advent of Islamic State (IS) at this moment. The development of Al Qaeda in the Southeast Asian region focused in the countries or sub-regions who have Muslim majority such as Indonesia, Malaysia, southern Philippines, and southern Thailand. Certain impacts had showed their effective networking movement around the region. This regional organization presently is still facing a dilemma of integrity with the emergence of problems of the modus operandi. The threat of Islamic State (IS) in Southeast Asia appears to be acting silently and having a networking controlled from outside ASEAN.. This study aims to provide a risk analysis and development of Islamic State (IS) in Southeast Asia. This study uses qualitative and quantitative approaches with the Borda, TOPSIS, and Risk Matrix methods. Preliminary findings of qualitative method have shownwhich regions are most threatened by IS. They are respectively the southern Philippines, Indonesia, southern Thailand, and Malaysia. Further research and findings based on quantitative approach will give a clear indication and confirmation on the threat’s seriousness. A transparent organization and model of management at the regional level to curb and control IS and other terrorism threats should be established. It is necessary to upgrade and enhance operational and intelligence efforts in order to defeat IS in the region.