ABSTRACT
This chapter critically explains the meanings of and responses to the demarcation of South East Asia as the second front in the global war on terror. It demonstrates that the second front rhetoric is counterproductive for rooting out the sources of terror in the region. As Glassman has noted, the war on terror has also provided an apposite opportunity for the governments in South East Asia to exercise increasing surveillance and control over dissident groups within their national boundaries. The chapter examines the geographical extension of the United States (US)-initiated war against terrorism to the South East Asian region. Demarcated by the US as the second front in the global war on terror, South East Asia has acquired a notorious reputation for being the new theatre for staging transnational terrorism. With the rhetoric of the second front, US foreign policy has garnered forceful initiatives for a revived engagement with South East Asia.
