The aim of this study is to analyze the process by which Al Qaeda has sought to co-opt essentially localized struggles in Southeast Asia into an evolving network of worldwide jihad. The article illustrates how, long before it was appropriate to speak of an entity called Al Qaeda, Islamists have been thinking transnationally since the 1980s. The argument attempts to piece together available evidence to reveal a plausible explanation of the origins, growth and direction of the main Islamist grouping in Southeast Asia, Jemaah Islamiyah, and its deepening relationship with Al Qaeda. The article suggests that the roots of a Southeast Asian terror network can be traced to two geographically separate ethno-religious struggles in the Philippines and Indonesia. The analysis demonstrates that these guerrilla groups orchestrating their distinct struggles were eventually combined through the auspices of Al Qaeda and the globalized franchising opportunities it exploited from the early 1990s. © 2003 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Political science
Research Field:	Political science not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Government and politics
Objective Field:	Government and politics not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Jones, DM (Dr David Jones)
UTAS Author:	Weeding, MJ (Mr Mark Weeding)
ID Code:	29209
Year Published:	2003
Deposited By:	Government
Deposited On:	2003-08-01
Last Modified:	2004-05-10
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