Print This Post
1 November 2011, Foreign Affairs

Is Indonesia Bound for the BRICs?

As Indonesia hosts a number of high-level summits this year, it looks set to take its place among the world’s economic superstars. But celebrations are premature: although Indonesia has made great strides, its gains are reversible. To continue to prosper, Jakarta must address rampant corruption and poor governance

post image

Indonesia is in the midst of a yearlong debut on the world stage. This past spring and summer, it hosted a series of high-profile summits, including for the Overseas Private Investment Corporation in May, the World Economic Forum on East Asia the same month, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July. With each event, Indonesia received broad praise for its leadership and achievements. This coming-out party will culminate in November, when the country hosts the East Asia Summit, which U.S. President Barack Obama and world leaders from 17 other countries will attend. As attention turns to Indonesia, the time is ripe to assess whether Jakarta can live up to all the hype.

A little over ten years ago, during the height of the Asian financial crisis, Indonesia looked like a state on the brink of collapse. The rupiah was in a death spiral, protests against President Suharto’s regime had turned into riots, and violence had erupted against Indonesia’s ethnic Chinese community. The chaos left the country — the fourth largest in the world, a sprawling archipelago including more than 17,000 islands, 200 million people, and the world’s largest Muslim population — without a clear leader.

This article was originally published by Foreign Affairs. You can read the rest of the article here.

You can read exclusive content from Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations, here.

Copyright © 2011 by the Council on Foreign Relations, Inc



TAGGED UNDER: , , , , , , , , , ,