ASEAN Finds Its Voice on Islamic State

Published on Oct 5, 2014 by Luke Hunt

In a refreshing departure from its usual say nothing approach to all things diplomatic, ASEAN has finally broken its silence over the self-anointed Islamic State (IS), and issued its first joint statement on the crisis, warning of the threat the terrorist outfit poses to global security.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat..

Turkey Vows to Fight ISIL, Guns for Assad’s exit

Published on Oct 5, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Turkey will fight against ISIL and other terrorist groups in the region but will stick to its aim of seeing Syrian dictator Bashar Al Assad removed from power, Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan.Read more from Dan Boylan at The National. .

Terror Australis – Fear and Theater?

Published on Sep 28, 2014 by Luke Hunt

“All terrorism is theater. All counter-terrorism is theater.” So spoke Dr. Anne-Azza Aly, a counter terrorism expert at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, Monday night on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s Q&A (known as “qanda”), where panelists answer audience questions about issues of the day.Read more from Helen Clark in The Diplomat..

‘Comfort Women’ Joining Islamic State

Published on Sep 21, 2014 by Luke Hunt

Reports that Malaysian women, among others, were abandoning their homes and heading to the Middle East to serve in jihad al-nikah (sexual jihad) as “comfort women” have drawn a combination of disbelief and protests from the Islamic community. The reports have come from Malaysian news sources. Police say they are investigating the reports, which “did not come from official channels.”Read more from Luke Hunt in  The Diplomat..

Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Must Fight Islamic State

Published on Sep 7, 2014 by Luke Hunt

With the Western world predominantly reinventing the “Coalition of the Willing” and dispatching arms and air support to Kurdistan, where the Peshmerga have stood alone in battling the Islamic State, pressure is rightly being applied to Southeast Asia to pitch-in, particularly ASEAN’s three predominantly Muslim members: Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.Read more from Luke Hunt in The Diplomat.  .