The Emergence of an Asia-Pacific Diplomacy of Counter-Terrorism in Tackling the Islamic State Threat

The militaries in the Asia-Pacific region have been largely established to respond to specific threats to national security. While most of the ASEAN countries have been modernising their force structures for conventional conflict since the waning years of the Cold War, many still retain doctrines and equipment geared for internal security needs. The advent of non-traditional security threats ranging from natural disasters to transnational terrorism may challenge this state of affairs. Against this backdrop, how can one analyse and conceptualise the Asia-Pacific’s diplomacy of counter-terrorism in tackling the threat posed by the Islamic State? This chapter will examine the counter-terrorism policies of Asia-Pacific states and analyse how non-traditional threats such as that posed by terrorism have been managed by the armed forces of the region. A short case study of Indonesia will be included.