As the Islamic State continues to spread its message and ideology across the world, world leaders obviously missed the point where they could’ve stopped it when still small. However, on a regional basis, some areas, such as Southeast Asia, have not been heavily penetrated by ISIS activity and therefore are in a crucial time crunch to contain the activity before it gets even worse. This ideal is very similar to the containment policy of the United States during the Cold War.
Countries such as Indonesia are finding it difficult, however, because they are seeing more lone wolf attacks and self-radicalization than organized attacks with many people. Lone wolf attacks are extremely hard to track, and many governments find it moot to go and track down individuals as opposed to a cohesive unit. Many of these lone wolves have been recruited through online measures. The governments are having a difficult job of deciding how to filter out harmful propaganda messages, without infringing on individual rights. It’s a tricky situation- however, if individuals keep getting away with these small attacks, it facilitates the ability for the situation to keep expanding. Had ISIS been taken more seriously when it consisted of sparse lone wolf attacks, we would not be where we are today. This is why it’s critical to carry out the containment ideals; we should value the lack of presence in Southeast Asia and possibly look to strengthen alliances there (perhaps not with the Philippines) to take advantage of an un-radicalized area to help out efforts. In light of recent events in Mosul, it does seem that perhaps this will be when ISIS is wiped out; they’re already on the decline, and should Mosul be retaken, it would be a complete blow to their head. However, the ideology won’t die, and this is why its critical to prevent the spread, even if this one main terror faction dies, because there will always be someone to replace them.