More of the Same

As Asia grapples with a growing list of new security threats, old issues continue to affect the broad security environment in Southeast Asia. The threats of terrorism were raised a few notches higher with the suicide bombings in Bali on 1 October 2005. The Bali attacks — which came a few days before the third anniversary of the Bali 2002 bombings — were a grim reminder of the potent threat of terrorist activities, despite tightened security measures instituted by governments and strengthened regional and international cooperation to combat terrorism. What is significant, however, with the 2005 terrorist attacks are the emergence of new disparate groups, some of which are reportedly factions of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) who, while adopting similar tactics of suicide bombings, act independently of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). Terrorist targets also appeared to have shifted away from Western-linked establishments to local ones (see the article “Terrorism in the Region: Changing Alliances, New Directions” on page 8).

The mutations of other terrorist networks have put a new face to the festering problem of terrorism in the region, and highlights the extent to which little is still known about the chimerical nature and extent of terrorist networks operating here. The problems have also been compounded by the elusive peace in the troubled regions of southern Philippines and southern Thailand. Against the spectre of spawning networks, it becomes all the more crucial for states in the region to intensify cooperation not only in combating terrorism but also in helping to seek peaceful settlements to sectarian and ethnic conflicts that continue to beleaguer some states in Southeast Asia.

In East Asia, beyond the persistent threats of terrorism, the concerns about North Korean nuclear proliferation got a much needed respite after the successful conclusion of the six-party talks in Beijing in September 2005. The September talks ended a three-year stand-off and a hardening of positions taken by both the United States and North Korea on the issue of denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.