One of the biggest diplomatic events of this year in the fight against international terrorism was the last forum of Foreign Ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held in Brunei. The meeting was also attended by the foreign ministers of the United States, Russia, China, the European Union, Japan and other countries.

On August 1, the ASEAN countries and the United States signed an agreement on cooperation in the fight against terrorism. It provides for the exchange of intelligence on the activities of terrorist groups, the blocking of their financial assets and the strengthening of border controls.

Such close attention to the fight against international terrorism in Southeast Asia is not accidental. It is home to the world's largest Muslim country, Indonesia, where 90 percent of the population professes Islam, their co - religionists are the majority in Malaysia and Brunei, and among the Muslim minority in the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand there are extremist people. The terrorist International, formed in the 1990s under the green banner of Islam, has opened one of the fronts of the war with the world community in this region.

The actions of Islamic terrorists exacerbate religious conflicts and armed separatist wars in the southern part of East Asia - one of the most explosive regions where the geopolitical and economic interests of the United States, China, Japan, Russia, India intersect, where such Cold War reserves as the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait remain.

The defeat of the main forces of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan has created a threat of turning Southeast Asia into one of the safe havens of surviving militants and intensifying the armed and subversive activities of Islamic extremists and separatists. Washington's "arrogance of power" in world affairs and attempts to use the fight against international terrorism to strengthen its geopolitical and economic positions, including in Southeast Asia, causes an increase in anti-American sentiment in this region and objectively contributes to the preservation of the remnants of the international terrorist International of Islamic extremists.

This is stated in M. Gusev's article "The syndrome of extremist fundamentalism and the fight against it" published below.

Using the example of the Taliban regime, R. Sikoev's article analyzes the deep origins of Muslim extremism, which promotes a "holy war" against "infidels" and the idea of creating a worldwide Islamic caliphate, as well as the threats of possible emergence of new Islamic military - theocratic regimes in the future.

M. GUSEV, Candidate of Historical Sciences

The withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and the collapse of the Soviet Union served as an incentive for the activation of Islamic extremism, whose ideologues argue that by crushing one great power with the support of Allah in the fight against the "infidels", the Islamic world can and should defeat the United States - the only remaining superpower that seeks to dictate its will to the whole world. These views have found fertile ground in Southeast Asia, where anti-American sentiment is very strong. Radicalism, which played a significant role in the political life of the region, lost its basic basis after the collapse of Marxist ideology. Examples include events in Indonesia, the Khmer Rouge and insurgent groups in Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. The ideological vacuum created by the weakening of leftist radicalism began to be filled by extremist Islamic fundamentalism.

The globalization of the world economy is accompanied by an increase in property differentiation and social stratification on a global scale. In this process, the social outcasts are no longer marginal strata of various countries, but entire countries and groups of countries. The overwhelming number of States in which Islam is the dominant religion can be rightly counted among them.

As the orientalist A. Drugov notes, " religious intolerance in its pure form is not inherent in Indonesians. Behind religious conflicts in Indonesia, we almost always find the causes of political, economic, and political violence.-

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of a psychological or social nature."

On the basis of the mass plight of Muslims, Islamic extremists are trying to form an international terrorist international under green banners. South-East Asia is also actively involved in the global international adventure.

ONE OF THE FRONTS OF THE TERRORIST INTERNATIONAL

In Indonesia, the rise of Islamic extremism, which has caused an escalation of religious conflicts and separatist sentiments, threatens the preservation of the country's integrity.

In the Moluccas, there is a bloody war between Muslims and Christians. The extremist organization "Jihad Army", despite the naval blockade of the islands established by the government, constantly replenishes the number of its supporters by arriving from other parts of the country and from abroad. They use the same methods as their associates in Chechnya, creating small sabotage and terrorist groups. Natives of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Malaysia are fighting on the side of the militants. The Government is forced to keep large armed forces in the area. A similar situation exists on the island of Sulawesi.

An equally serious problem is the situation on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where the Free Aceh movement operates under the slogans of creating an "independent Islamic state". In 2001 alone, more than 1,500 people were killed in Aceh, and since the beginning of the separatist unrest, which has been going on for almost a quarter of a century, the number of victims of the conflict is many thousands. According to US sources, since the early 1990s, up to 1,500 Indonesians have been sent to study in Egypt, Syria and Iran every year, and many of them (up to 40 percent) are lost. It is these people who join the detachments of international terrorists. It is established that local extremists receive moral and material support from abroad, including from Osama bin Laden.

In an interview with the Japanese magazine Chuo Koron in early 2002, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said that about 50 citizens of his country are associated with the Al-Qaeda group. According to the head of government, these people were trained in Afghanistan. Since August 2001, Malaysia has arrested about 40 people suspected of involvement in militant Islamic organizations. According to the investigation, at least two of them met with members of a group that included participants in terrorist acts in the United States. Hundreds of South-East Asians fought in Afghanistan, first against the Soviets in 1979 and 1989, and later in the ranks of the Taliban.

Young people from Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia have been regularly sent to study in religious schools in Pakistan over the past decades. When they return to their homeland, they join the ranks of adherents of the most reactionary wing of conservative Islam. According to Malaysian analyst Farish Noor, about 300 religious school graduates return to Malaysia every year, and they are the ones who put pressure on the Malay community and several state governments to establish Sharia rule. The creation of such states is part of the program of the country's main opposition party, the Malay Islamic Party (PAS), which is actively increasing the number of its supporters.

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Thus, there is a real threat of strengthening the position of radical political Islam, which calls for the overthrow of the existing state power.

International terrorism has close ties to the Philippine rebels belonging to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. About 700 Indonesians were trained in the organization's military camps on the island of Mindanao. The front's eight thousand fighters are fighting to establish an independent Islamic State throughout Mindanao, even though only four of the island's fourteen provinces are Muslim-majority. Osama bin Laden's half-brother Jamal Khalifa provided financial support for separatist activities.

According to reports coming from American sources, one of the participants in the hijacking of planes in the United States was detained by the Philippine police a few days before the terrorist attack, the other was seen in Kuala Lumpur.

In the south of Thailand, there are detachments of Muslim separatists belonging to the United Liberation Organization of Pattani. These groups are seeking the independence of four provinces populated mainly by Muslim Malays, demanding the introduction of Sharia norms in all spheres of life with the ultimate goal of creating an independent Islamic state.

Only recently has the country's leadership come to realize the need for a more active state response to the threat of Islamic extremism. In June 2001, Ibrahim Ghoshe, the leader of the Palestinian militant organization Hamas, was expelled from Thailand without an official explanation. After the events of September 11, it was announced that members of all groups associated with bin Laden were expelled from the country. The Government conducted military operations in four southern provinces. As General Chulanton, the commander of these operations, noted, " people from the Middle East provide training and funding for fundamentalist groups in the south of the country. These groups organize bombings on railways and hotels, kidnap people, and engage in extortion."

Leaders of Islamist groups in the Philippines and Indonesia have long-standing ties directly to bin Laden and to the leadership of other similar extremist organizations in the Middle East, such as those that have fought in Afghanistan. For example, in September 2000, a meeting of Taliban leaders with representatives of Islamic movements in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand was held in Kabul. In particular, it set the task of coordinating the activities of all the Islamic forces of these countries.

PROS AND CONS OF COOPERATION WITH THE United States

The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 in the United States and the threat of joining forces of terrorists at the regional level in Southeast Asia caused great concern to the ASEAN countries about this very real danger.

The topic of Muslim extremism and terrorism was high on the agenda at a meeting last year between Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo and Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The same issue was given high priority at the annual ASEAN Summit in Brunei in November 2001.

The Malaysian and Philippine Navies and Air Forces have begun joint patrols of areas at the junction of the two countries ' maritime borders in the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea to track terrorist groups believed to be linked to Osama bin Laden's international network. Naval maneuvers for the same purpose are conducted by Indonesia and Malaysia.

In recent years, the unity and integrity of ASEAN have been severely tested by economic and political shocks. The unification of regional forces to fight the common evil of terrorism has become a significant factor in terms of the stability of ASEAN and increasing its authority.

As a country that has long faced Islamic extremism and separatism, the Philippines has proposed creating a broad counterterrorism front within ASEAN.

Once again, the eyes of ASEAN members, as in the old days, turn to the American "umbrella". Security concerns were perhaps the main reason for the mutual interest of the ASEAN countries and the United States in developing their relations. If before September 11, 2001, the ASEAN countries needed an American presence as a guarantor of stability, now a different system of interaction is being formed.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Michael Armacost notes: "Now no one in Washington can ignore Southeast Asia, given the presence of a significant part of the population here that professes Islam, and the importance of the region in the global security system."

The region's military-political relations with the United States are entering a new phase. After the end of the Cold War, the Southeast Asian countries somewhat distanced themselves from American "patronage" in the field of defense, relying more on regional security mechanisms. There were liquidations-

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There are American air and naval bases in the Philippines, Indonesia refused to purchase American aircraft in favor of Russian ones, and so on.

The attacks have changed the way countries in the region approach security issues and the role of the United States in addressing them. The Philippines and Thailand officially announced information and staff support for the US armed forces, as well as providing the United States with the opportunity to expand the use of military bases in their territories.

The United States has formed a special anti-terrorist unit in the southern Philippines consisting of 1,200 American troops. The task of the US military task force, which ended its mission in late summer, was to train Filipino soldiers and provide logistical assistance against the Abu Sayyaf extremist Muslim group, which is linked to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, operating in a number of southern Philippine areas. In August, Washington and Manila agreed on the participation of 400 US troops in the second phase of the operation against terrorists, which is funded by US military assistance in the amount of 55 million dollars.

Indonesia and Malaysia have expressed their readiness to cooperate with the US special services in identifying hotbeds of extremism in their countries.

Immediately after the September 11 terrorist attack, Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri paid a visit to the United States. It was extremely important for Washington to hear from the Indonesian president words of solidarity in the fight against international terrorism and at the same time demonstrate to the Islamic world that America is not waging war against Muslims and Islam, but against terrorism.

At the same time, due to the position of Jakarta, which fears an aggravation of the situation in its country, a resolution in support of their military actions in Afghanistan was not adopted at last year's APEC summit in Shanghai, despite all the efforts of American representatives.

Apparently, the Pentagon intends to restore its military and political presence in Southeast Asia. After talks in Hanoi in early February 2002, the commander of the US Armed Forces in the Pacific, Admiral Denis Blair, announced that the US Navy would return to the Cam Ranh naval base in the near future. As you know, Russia abandoned it before the end of the agreement with Hanoi in 2004, and it is possible that the American flag may again be raised at this base.

When creating anti-terrorist alliances and the subsequent fight against terrorism, which, as Washington recognizes, will be protracted, according to observers, the United States will not miss the chance to strengthen its influence in various spheres of life of the states of the region - economy, politics, diplomacy, military cooperation.

This development encourages the strengthening of nationalist and anti-American sentiments among Muslims, which may make it difficult for the leadership of the ASEAN countries to continue cooperation with the United States in the fight against terrorism. A number of Indonesian Muslim organizations have called for a holy war - "jihad" - against the United States in response to the strikes in Afghanistan. In the capital and other cities of Indonesia, terrorists aiming to destabilize the situation in the country, carried out a series of terrorist attacks with dozens of victims.

Violent demonstrations after the outbreak of hostilities in Afghanistan took place in other countries of the region. Singapore, which has a predominantly Chinese population combined with an Islamist minority, fears becoming a target for extremists. The same concern is felt in Malaysia, where contradictions between representatives of the main ethnic groups belonging to different faiths have always caused serious concerns.

Unsurprisingly, the Governments of Indonesia and Malaysia have sought to remove any suspicion of possible "harboring" or unintentional "assistance" to international terrorists by, for example, granting them entry visas. Both Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur express their full readiness to cooperate with Washington in exposing terrorist organizations and identifying traces of terrorists leading to the Southeast Asian region. This position, combined with Washington's hard line, sometimes leads to the opposite result, discrediting the actions of the leadership of the countries of the region to mitigate the intensity of religious passions among Muslims and leads to a rapid radicalization of the Muslim population and an increase in the popularity of bin Laden, who accuses the Americans of anti-Islamism. Thus, the United States objectively creates conditions for preserving the positions of the international terrorist International of the Islamic sense in the region.

Muslim extremists and terrorists dispersed as a result of the United States ' efforts to destroy the world-wide terrorist network have a real opportunity to find refuge in the countries of Southeast Asia. This was hardly possible in the past, as the attitude towards terrorism in the region was extremely negative.

Thus, the anti-terrorist operation in Afghanistan and its consequences may lead to an increase in the activity of the international terrorist network in Southeast Asia.

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