Joshua Kurlantzick writes:

A semblance of stability has resulted in investment and economic growth; indeed, Indonesia has posted some of the highest growth rates in the world over the past two years. Yudhoyono has also presided over free and fairly contested elections, and in the cities vigorous media outlets have established themselves. East Timor is now genuinely independent and the secessionist conflict in Aceh was resolved by negotiation following the tsunami of December 2004. Attacks against Indonesian Chinese have decreased sharply. When I’ve travelled to Jakarta in recent years, I’ve been startled to find many ethnic Chinese businesspeople beginning to participate in politics, which they would never have done in the past, for fear of being targeted if they took up public positions. And as Robert Kaplan records in Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power, it is Indonesia’s growing stability that has made it an increasingly attractive partner for both China and the US.

(LRB 3 March 2011)

Random House | Hardback 384 pp. |ISBN: 9781400067466