Project Overview

Reports Index

The past two years have been a highly turbulent period for Indonesia. The devastating economic crash of 1997 was followed by a mass uprising in early 1998, triggering a political meltdown as President Soeharto bowed out after 32 years of autocratic rule. The short spell in power of Soeharto's successor, BJ Habibie, was dogged by economic problems and a series of damaging corruption scandals, while crises erupted in several parts of the archipelago, including East Timor, Aceh, Irian Jaya and Ambon. The 'loss' of East Timor in the 30 August 1999 referendum and the international condemnation of the behaviour of Indonesian troops in the province dealt a further hard blow to national morale, unleashing strong nationalist sentiments.

While the victory of political moderate Abdurrahman Wahid in the October 1999 presidential election was widely seen as a ray of hope, the backlog of problems greeting his government remains daunting. An ICG assessment mission visited Indonesia in September 1999, and a report flagging many of the issues requiring urgent attention was published. On the basis of that mission and subsequent consultations, a full-scale Indonesia field project with an office in Jakarta was established in March 2000.

ICG's most recent reports and papers on Indonesia are: