Security Issues in Southeast Asia: Understanding Indonesian Terrorism Through the Life Story of Ali Imrom

Terrorism has attracted the attention of not only many researchers, but also governments around the world. Terrorism in Indonesia, in particular created shockwaves in Australia as it directly affected many Australians. Important questions that have rarely been asked are how people become engaged in terrorist groups, progress in them, and commit terror attacks. Why, too, do some of these people eventually disengage from their former commitment? All these questions are important in that the answers can provide useful information for policy makers seeking to discourage people from joining terrorist groups as well as encouraging them to disengage from terrorist activities. This paper seeks some answers in the life story of Ali Imron, an Indonesian bomber who has renounced terrorism, using the 'Process Model' proposed by Horgan (2005). This paper will also assess the applicability of the process model concept.