Across Asia, the rise of hard-line religious movements is fuelling a macho form of nationalism and creating dangerous new fault lines in communities. Ultimately the spread of a more militant ethno-religious chauvinism could hit both economic growth and stability in an increasingly affluent Asia, writes Gwen Robinson and Simon Roughneen for Nikkei Asian Review. One of the most religiously diverse regions on the planet – home to 250 million Muslims, 150 million Buddhists, 120 million Christians and sizeable communities of the Hindu, Confucian, Taoist and indigenous faiths –Southeast Asia has seen growing conflict along the fault lines of religion in recent years. Sidney Jones, who tracks militant groups in Southeast Asia as director of the Jakarta-based Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, says as ISIS continues to lose territory in the Middle East, fighters are looking at Southeast Asia.