Indonesia, front and center
This is the second in a series about Harvard’s deep connections with Asia. In May 1998, widespread food shortages and stubbornly high unemployment led to massive riots across Indonesia. More than 1,000 people were killed, and longtime ruler Suharto was driven from office. The violence eventually ushered in a new era for one of the world’s most populous and complex nations, which spans more than 17,000 islands and is home to hundreds of ethnic and language groups that provide the kind of natural divisions that have brought other countries to civil war. Fifteen years later, Indonesia appears to have skirted those centrifugal forces. Instead, its 242 million people have forged the world’s most populous Muslim-majority democracy. Interest in their progress led to the creation in 2010 of Harvard Kennedy School’s (HKS) Indonesia Program, nestled within the Rajawali Foundation Institute for Asia, which itself is within HKS’ Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation. “They have...