Jemaah Islamiyah, ISIS and Beyond
Tracking the Evolving Challenge of Violent Extremism in Southeast Asia (2001-2025)
This book explores the evolution of violent extremism in Southeast Asia, charting its development from the 2001 discovery of the Jemaah Islamiyah plot linked to Al Qaeda in Singapore, to the rise of ISIS in the mid-2010s, and the emergence of new forms of extremism such as White Supremacist, Hindu, and Buddhist extremism in the 2020s. It provides a comprehensive look at how these threats have shaped both regional and global
security landscapes.
The book brings together a series of policy-oriented commentaries that unpack the complexities of extremism, from the rise of terrorist organisations to the dynamics of radicalisation. It also examines key counter-extremism strategies, highlighting the roles of women, youth, and the importance of addressing the ideological narratives that fuel violent extremism. In the final sections, the book brings the conversation up to the present, analysing
non-Islamist extremisms, social media’s role in radicalisation, and the need for integrated, context-specific strategies to combat the evolving threat.
“I highly recommend it as a manual to be read widely by policymakers, academics, students, journalists, community leaders, and those who are interested in the field of terrorism and counter-terrorism, especially in Southeast Asia.”
–Professor Amin Saikal
Emeritus Professor at the Australian National University
Author of How to Lose a War: The Story of America’s Intervention in Afghanistan (2024)
“…this excellent volume of essays provides a very readable account of the evolution
of key elements of the story and where it is going now.”
–The Lord Alderdice FRCPsych
Member of the House of Lords Select Committee on International Relations and Defence, Honorary Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford, and Professor of Practice at the Senator George J Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen’s University, Belfast
About the Author
Kumar Ramakrishna serves as Professor of National Security Studies (among other positions) at the S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), in Singapore, and has written numerous books on terrorism in Southeast Asia. While this book primarily focuses on the characteristics of violent extremism in Southeast Asia by groups such as Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaeda, and most recently by ISIS (including the lone actors who follow them), one of the book’s important contributions is the author’s explanation of how the drivers of radicalisation into violent extremism have evolved globally over the years.
