This book analyses the increasing 'Talibanization' of Southeast Asia, a relatively new phenomenon in a region that was once an oasis of moderate Islam. Long before the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Southeast Asia had been dealing with the threat of terrorism. The bombing in Bali that killed 202 people was by no means the region's first experience with Islamic extremism, which can be traced back to the 1940s. The most recent group to emerge is AI-Jama'ah AI-Islamiyah (AJAI), the most potent Islamic terrorist organization to date in the region and the group behind the Bali bombing. However, prior to 9/11, the terrorist challenge was essentially national in character, with groups attempting either to secede from the central government, or to force the central government to adopt a political system that was more Islamic in character. The AJAI represents the birth of the first transnational terrorist organisation in Southeast Asia.The AJAI aims to establish a regional Islamic state covering most of southern Southeast Asia. Additionally, what has made it a potent force has been its ability to work with existing religious extremist groups in the region and beyond, including AI Qaeda and other like-minded groups based in Afghanistan and Pakistan. This has succeeded in posing one of the most serious security challenges to the region since the end of the Cold War. Jihadists are operating in small and localised cells even though the broad goals remain the same. The author argues that as most governments do not have the credibility or the expertise to diminish the threat posed by Islamist extremism, Southeast Asia is in danger of being Talibanized in the near future.