The Evolving Terrorist Threat to Southeast Asia: A Net Assessment

Source: RAND Corporation

Terrorism is not new to Southeast Asia. For much of the Cold War, the activities of a variety of domestic ethnonationalist and religious militant groups posed a significant challenge to the region’s internal stability. Since the 1990s, however, the residual challenge posed by substate militant extremism has risen in reaction to both the force of modernization pursued by many Southeast Asian governments and the political influence of radical Islam. Building on prior RAND research analyzing the underlying motives, drivers, and capabilities of the principal extremist groups that have resorted to terrorist violence in the Philippines, southern Thailand, and Indonesia, this study examined the historical roots of militancy in these countries to provide context for assessing the degree to which local agendas are either being subsumed within a broader ideological framework or shaped by other extremist movements. Moving beyond simple terrorism analysis, this research also examined national and international government responses to militant movements in the region, including counterterrorist initiatives, military and policing strategies, hearts-and-minds campaigns, and funding and support from international organizations and governments (including the United States). Finally, the study broke new ground in assessing Cambodia as a potential future terrorist operational and logistical hub in Southeast Asia.

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Hun Sen cautions on explosives used at the newly opened cement factory - 1997 Explosions still bring bad memories to Hun Sen?

Hun Sen Urges Caution on Explosives

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 January 2008

Prime Minister Hun Sen warned on Monday that terrorists could find their way to explosives from a newly opened cement factory if vigilance lapses.

Speaking at the opening of the $90-million factory in Kampot province, Hun Sen said terrorists needed explosives like those housed at the factory.

“The control of explosives must be carried out neatly, according to regulations,” he said.

His comments follow statements made by Cambodia’s national police chief that counterterrorism work with the FBI has been productive.

Cambodia has in recent years become a willing partner to the US in its counterterrorism efforts.

There are no known terrorist threats in Cambodia, although in 2003 it was discovered that a senior leader of the Islamic fundamentalist group Jemaah Islamiya had taken refuge in Cambodia before traveling to Thailand.