Analysis of The Trilateral Cooperation of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia to Safeguard the Sea and Combat Terrorism

Abstract

Terrorism is one of the things that globalization has somewhat enhanced. With the sumptuous ease of access to all sorts of technologies, the non-state actor has become the very thing that many states fear for their national security. One of such cases occurs in the Philippines where it has been dealing with the Abu Sayyaf terrorists. Given the terrorist’s ability to utilize the nearby sea to its advantage, which shares borders with Malaysia and Indonesia, the Philippines was faced with a complex matter at hand. However, it doesn’t deter them, rather, they came up with a unique approach which includes its neighbors in a joint effort to fight terrorism. The article focuses on three things which it unpacks later down the road. At the start, the article begins by explaining the trilateral cooperations between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines in tackling terrorism over the sea and the Philippines. In the case of its implications, terrorism also has strong implications to national stability which might worsen a lot of sectors within a state, including areas where the SDGs are needed. Such conditions occur as acts of terror that the groups carry out would result in instability that may hinder development measures. The initiative to tackle the issue in a multilateral framework further shows how crucial the issue is to tackle and also why it must include that means. The latter can be attributed to the nature of the issue that is transnational which prevents any effective single state measures.