Indonesia: Power, Islam, and Democracy

Delving into Indonesia’s history and recent past through extensive archives, Frédéric Compain provides a comprehensive portrait of Indonesian society and the challenges it faces. This overview is enriched by insights from leading witnesses and analysts: politicians, religious leaders, historians, economists, human rights advocates, journalists, and more.

Part 1: The Invisible Giant

An archipelago of over 17,500 islands nestled between the Pacific and Indian Oceans, Indonesia first piqued European interest in the 16th century. Its position along the Silk Road attracted Portuguese traders, who were soon replaced by the Dutch. The rapacious Dutch East India Company seized control of the archipelago’s natural resources. In 1822, the Muslim prince Diponegoro made an early attempt to rally Javanese aristocracy against the colonizers, and his exile gave rise to a new national sentiment. By the early 20th century, independence movements faced fierce repression. When the Japanese occupied the archipelago in 1941, they were seen as liberators. In August 1945, Japan’s surrender marked the birth of the Republic of Indonesia. Initially led by Sukarno and later by Suharto from 1967, the country endured five challenging decades marked by repression, nepotism, and corruption.

Part 2: The Giant in Motion

A decade after hosting the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Bandung in 1955, Indonesia cracked down on communists in a brutal repression. As the country was engulfed in silence, the end of the Cold War led Muslim intellectuals to demand regime democratization. The 1997 Asian financial crisis, which plunged the national economy, coupled with pressures from the “American friend” and popular protests supported by the Sultan of Yogyakarta (whose father had previously supported the independence war), led to the downfall of General Suharto’s corrupt regime in 1998. However, internal conflicts, including those in Timor, Aceh, and the Moluccas, threatened the fragile unity of the young republic. In 2002, a Bali bombing raised fears of an uncontrollable rise in radical Islamism…