Munk School of Global Affairs

Series

Southeast Asia Seminar Series

Room Information

Contact Info

Aga Baranowska

Description

A former Dutch colony, modern Indonesia is a multi-ethnic Muslim-majority developing country comprising thousands of islands spread across nearly four thousand miles in equatorial Southeast Asia. After forty years of personal and military dictatorship under Presidents Sukarno and Suharto, Indonesia became a democracy in 1999. Three successful national elections have since been held; a fourth is scheduled for 2014. Serious challenges to democratic stability remain, however, including corruption, weak judicial institutions, threats from radical Muslims, separatism in the easternmost provinces of Papua, and the slow pace of economic growth.

R. William Liddle is Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Ohio State University and a specialist on Southeast Asian, particularly Indonesian, politics. His current research focuses on political leadership, voting behavior, and popular attitudes toward Islamic politics in Indonesia.

Main Sponsor

Asian Institute