REGIONAL SECURITIZATION OF THE ISIS* IN THE SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTER-TERRORISM STRATEGIES FOR THE POST-ISIS ERA

Abstract

In 2017, the United States of America declared the defeat of the ISIS's core territory. Since then, many analysts have argued that the group would threat-en the security of several Southeast Asia regions. However, other analysts argued that the threat to the Southeast Asian (SEA) regions should not be exag-gerated since it is not serious or critical. This raised the question of alterna-tive regions for its thought and activists. This article critically analyzes the ISIS terrorist threats to SEA regional security in the post-ISIS era. It identifies the key challenges facing the SEA regional counter-terrorism strategies amid the new developments. A qualitative research approach has been adopted with thematic analysis methods in this article. Moreover, the Copenhagen schools' securitization and regional security complex theories have been used as a theoretical framework. Results show that to increase the states and com-munity capacity to deal with this top non-traditional security threat, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and its member states continually adopt various initiatives, programs, policies, and strategies.