Nicholas Chan currently serves as the research officer at the Nalanda-Sriwijaya Centre (NSC) of theISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. He received his Masters Degree in Asian Studies from the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University and will be enrolling in the University of Cambridge as a PhD candidate. He is interested in state, society, and political violence in Southeast Asia
The Malaysian State Responds to IS: Force, Discourse, and Dilemma
This essay critically examines the Malaysian state’s responses to IS, which, while having proven relatively successful in maintaining public safety (as compared to Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines), have not slowed the pace of radicalization among the Malaysian populace. The essay highlights the operational dimension in the post-Internal Security Act (ISA) era, as well as the active discursive campaign to denounce, discredit and diminish IS. The essay then discusses the dilemma faced by self-proclaimed “Islamic” states such as Malaysia in countering Islamist militancy.
