The Politics of Post-Suharto Indonesia

Though ongoing economic, political, and social crises have kept Indonesia in the headlines for over a year, Southeast Asia's troubled giant remains poorly understood in the United States. This 17,000-island archipelago, ranging over 3,000 miles from east to west, occupies a strategic location that connects the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean to East Asia. The fourth-most populous country in the world, Indonesia is home to as many Muslims as the entire Middle East/North Africa region. It is first among equals in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is a key part of East Asia's prevailing balance of power. Wrenched by the domestic turmoil that commenced with the collapse of the rupiah in the fall of 1997, Indonesia is only now starting to receive the attention in the United States that its size and potential warrant. This book responds to the critical need of policymakers, practitioners, and scholars for current research on Indonesia. The authors, all acclaimed international experts on Indonesia, focus on those areas that are particularly nettlesome for Indonesia's new leaders: the economy, religion and ethnicity, civil society, and the military, with a concluding chapter on the International Monetary Fund and U.S. policy toward Indonesia. The result of their inquiries is a rich, forward-looking volume that provides a first glimpse into the future of Indonesia in the post-Suharto era.