Raviprasad Narayanan replies: There are several key challenges facing the East Asia Summit (EAS):
First, EAS is beholden to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as progenitor of this regional forum. Mahathir Mohamad, current Prime Minister of Malaysia, is considered to be behind the idea of EAS. The inclusion of the United States and Russia was designed to accommodate two belligerents in the past, currently with a suspicious outlook vis-à-vis each other.
Why are Southeast Asians lured to fight for the Islamic State?
If the experience of the Afghan–trained mujahids is anything to go by, the threat posed by returnees from Syria and Iraq has the potential to be far more lethal especially since the numbers involved are much higher.