Impact of Isis on Radical Groups of Southeast Asia Countries Mustafa Selçuk1, Nikos Panagiotou2 1Ph.D. candidate, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki 2Assistant Professor, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Email Corespondence: [email protected] Abstract Radicalization is not a new phenomenon in Southeast Asia. Islamic radicalization has increased and became a significant issue in Southeast Asia since 2001. Faith-based organizations have supported the radical spreading of misinformation, and therefore various measures have many casualties. the development of Islamic radicalism in Southeast Asia is starting to spread in Indonesia, Philippines, and Malaysia, mostly via social media. This research focuses on how the ideology of ISIS affects (re-activated) radical groups in Southeast Asia. More specifically, through discourse text analysis and frame analysis, this research aims to analyze similarities in discourses and frames through their communication campaigns. Besides, how the spreading of Islamic radicalism in Southeast Asia and broadening the scope of knowledge on the impact of Islamic radicalization in other regional countries also become a discussion. While ISIS shrinks in the Middle-East, the researchers argue that in recent years ISIS has started to affiliate with countries in Southeast Asia. Keywords: ISIS, Radicalization, Social Media, Southeast Asia, Terror attack, Radical groups Abstrak Radikalisasi bukanlah fenomena baru di Asia Tenggara. Radikalisasi Islam telah meningkat dan menjadi isu penting di Asia Tenggara sejak tahun 2001. Organisasi berbasis agama telah mendukung penyebaran informasi yang radikal secara radikal, dan karenanya berbagai tindakan memiliki banyak korban. Perkembangan radikalisme Islam di Asia Tenggara mulai Islamic World and Politics Vol. 4. No.1 June 2020 ISSN: 2614-0535, E-ISSN: 2655-1330 Islamic World and Politics 2 Vol. 4. No. 1 June 2020 menyebar di Indonesia, Filipina, dan Malaysia, sebagian besar melalui media sosial. Penelitian ini berfokus pada bagaimana ideologi ISIS mempengaruhi (mengaktifkan kembali) kelompok radikal di Asia Tenggara. Lebih khusus lagi, melalui analisis teks wacana dan analisis bingkai, penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis kesamaan dalam wacana dan bingkai melalui kampanye komunikasi mereka. Selain itu, bagaimana penyebaran radikalisme Islam di Asia Tenggara dan memperluas ruang lingkup pengetahuan tentang dampak radikalisasi Islam di negara-negara kawasan lain juga menjadi bahan diskusi. Sementara ISIS menyusut di Timur Tengah, para peneliti berpendapat bahwa dalam beberapa tahun terakhir ISIS telah mulai berafiliasi dengan negara- negara di Asia Tenggara. Kata kunci: ISIS, Radikalisasi, Media Sosial, Asia Tenggara, Serangan Teror, Kelompok Radikal INTRODUCTION groups. Hundreds of Asians went to There are many radical groups Syria and joined ISIS. that they want to bring a caliphate Some of them went with system in their countries. This their family. Especially this year, ideological frame is similar to ISIS started to focus on Southeast ISIS that calls all Muslims to join Asia because a massive number the caliphate system. They started of the Muslim population joins making a campaign to reach people ISIS coming from radical groups who want to join them through throughout the countries. Recent social media to people all around magazines and videos ISIS used the world. Since the Syrian civil Asian children to show them that war began, ISIS tried to extend many Southeast Asians already in the region, mainly in Iraq and joined, gave them courage, and Syria. Many foreign fighters joined spread the ideology of ISIS in the ISIS from Europe, Balkans, and region. Last year, there were many Southeast Asia. in this article, the terror attacks in Europe and Turkey, researchers will focus on foreign even though there was not any fighters from South Asian and how attack news since it erupted in the ISIS affects Southeast Asian radical Philippines after the Manchester Mustafa Selçuk & Nikos Panagiotou 3 Impact of ISIS on Radical Groups of Southeast Asia Countries attack. Some of the radical groups critical comparison with major in the Philippines announced that events. the main goal of this research they accepted the caliphate of ISIS, is to find out the affiliation of ISIS in and they siege the city of Marawi. Southeast Asia. This issue was in the tenth magazine of ISIS (Rome 10th). They said that RESEARCH METHOD ISIS fighters extended in Southeast In 2014, when the civil war in Asia. Syria started point for radical group, Syria and Iraq accrued ISIS and METHODOLOGY leader of ISIS Baghdadi declared The researchers critically his caliphate in June 2014. Baghdadi examined how ISIS affects radical called, “Global Jihad is gone on to groups in Southeast Asia and their build a global network of affiliates campaign progress also how they and branches that now stretches tried to gain followers in Southeast from Afghanistan to West Africa, Asia. This paper analyzed ISIS from the Middle-east to Southeast magazine, statement in 2016-2018 Asia.” the most critical factor in easy regarding Southeast Asia, and spreading is social media and online analysis of critical published news publications in different languages. about ISIS in Southeast Asia between Recently, ISIS starts to focus on 2016-2018 to figure out the impact Southeast Asia. It is Southeast of ISIS in Southeast Asia. the paper Asia with a Muslim majority or reviewed the narrative strategies substantial Muslim-minority adopted by the news media. in this populations that have been the study, the researchers used frame most worried by the effect of Islamic analysis and discourse text analysis. State, because of the number of foreign fighters from the sub-region Meanwhile, the international who have gone to Syria and Iraq. news agency showed that ISIS Al Qaeda and ISIS are different. It shrinks. in reality, they are means they do not collaborate. Their spreading, especially in Southeast split has had an impact in Southeast Asia. ISIS changes its strategy and Asian radical groups, such as most starts investing in Southeast Asia. senior activists of the JI (Jamaatul the research is inventive because Islamiyah) network support Al it examined the magazine of ISIS, Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate Al-Nusra. which they publish regularly, and international news coverage in a Jemaah Islamiyah has a base in Indonesia, which links to the Islamic World and Politics 4 Vol. 4. No. 1 June 2020 global jihad vision of Al Qaeda happened outside the Australian and commits to the establishment embassy in Jakarta. in October 2005, of a pan Southeast Asian Islamic there was an attack in Bali, after a state (Ramakrishna: 2017, 3). the couple of years, a suicide attack that statement aims to include Muslim targeted Jakarta Ritz-Carlton and the groups in Southeast Asia, especially near to Marriott hotel in July 2009 Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, to set up an Islamic State (Hashim: Singapore also some territory of 2015). Their aim was not only in Thailand and even Australia, where Indonesia, but all of Southeast Asia Muslim communities located. countries establishing the Islamic Another group is Abu Sayyaf (AS) States. Since then, radicalization in Southeast Asia bloody attacks in has increased in Southeast Asia and their regions. There is also an Islamist become a severe threat to the regions. movement, Darul Islam, established Also, there are some other by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and Abdullah radical groups in Indonesia, Sungkar. the two believed that the which have similar ideological Jamaatul Islamiyah (JI) should thinking with ISIS in Indonesia. wage jihad against Indonesia. Some Hizb-ut Tahrir, the extremist extremist leaders supported the idea organization, founded by Syrian of ISIS, such a Ba’asyir and Aman Omar Bakri Muhammad Al- Abdurrahman. However, some of Muhajiroun in 1938. It is hard to them eschew the concept of ISIS, argue all of the members that have such as Abdul Rohim and Ridho. a radical ideology. However, there Therefore, they left JAT to establish is a potential of radicalization. Al- Jamaah Ansharusy Shariah (JAS) Muhajiroun believes that countries (Ramakrishna: 2017). Also, JAS such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, rejected the declaration of ISIS so- Afghanistan, Indonesia, and called Global caliphate and has even Malaysia should be his aim to sought to recruit Indonesian fighters establish the caliphate (IPAC for its chief rival, Al-Nusra, in Syria. Report: 2014, 13). the ideology of The Bali attack rebuilt the threat Hizb-ut Tahrir has been a spread of radical network to Southeast among young people in Southeast Asian security, edited deadly attacks Asia. Mainly, Hizb-ut Tahrir started by the extremist groups. August 2003 to make links with their supporters was the attack of the Jakarta Marriott, and online activities. One of their in September 2004. This attack followers, Fachry, established a Mustafa Selçuk & Nikos Panagiotou 5 Impact of ISIS on Radical Groups of Southeast Asia Countries magazine because online magazines Islamic caliphate. in 2006, a group and news were an easy way to find of people who promoted the idea followers. He believed that Islam’s of an Islamic state in Indonesia enemies, particularly America and sneaked to school and university western countries, controlled the students and became their mentors. mainstream global media. Thus, it Between 2006 and 2007, they held was crucial to establish a magazine mass demonstrations on campus to fight in the media. under the banner of freedom of In 2007, Al-Muhajirun expression in support of the Islamic published their first magazine titled State (TheJakartaPost: 08/08/2014). “Staying on the Road to Jihad” (IPAC It means that Indonesia is Report: 2014). in the beginning, convenient for the idea of ISIS since Fachry and his friends in FAKSI many people support the concept were neutral (tawaquf) toward the of an Islamic state. However, the campaign of ISIS. establishment of Islamic states Nevertheless, on October 1, discussed in the past, with many 2013, Omar Bakri proclaimed that Islamic thinkers is hard. There is a they supported ISIS. He said that gap in the idea of an Islamic state.