Asia Program
For some years after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the existence of violent Muslim separatists on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao gave U.S. officials significant cause for concern. In 2005, for example, the U.S. embassy charge d'affaires to the Philippines, Joseph Mussomeli, told reporters that "certain portions of Mindanao are so lawless, so porous ... that you run the risk of it becoming like an Afghanistan situation. Mindanao is almost, forgive the poor religious pun, the new Mecca for terrorism." During the Bush administration, officials referred to the region as a "second front" in the War on Terror: the region was once seen as a "new Afghanistan" that "threatened to become an epicenter of Al Qaeda."

Event Speakers:
Patricio Abinales