Indonesia Viewed As A Potential Bridge Between Islam, U.S.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s Asian tour this week takes her to a country that some believe is well positioned to act as a bridge between America and the Islamic world.

While other stops on Clinton’s maiden trip abroad as secretary of state – key allies Japan and South Korea and regional giant China – are more obvious destinations, the addition of Indonesia was less expected.

Despite being the world’s most populous Islamic nation and Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, Indonesia has in past years tended to focus on its internal problems, evidently reluctant to exercise leadership beyond its borders to any significant degree.

As Indonesians ponder whether the inclusion of their country on Clinton’s itinerary holds any significance beyond a sentimental nod to President Obama’s childhood links, regional experts are upbeat about future cooperation.

Clinton is due to arrive in Jakarta on Wednesday for a two-day visit that will include talks with her Indonesian counterpart, Hassan Wirajuda, and a meeting with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Addressing the Asia Society before leaving for the region, Clinton hailed what she said was “very fertile ground for cooperation,� citing areas including “stronger partnerships on education, energy, and food security.�

Not mentioned were issues of common interest further afield, but Wirayuda said Monday he expected the visit would also focus on matters like “Afghanistan, Iran and the Middle East.�

Many Indonesians responded enthusiastically to the election last November of a president who for several years as a child attended school in Jakarta, living with his mother and Indonesian stepfather.

Professor Arief Budiman, head of the Indonesian program at the University of Melbourne in Australia, said Tuesday he would not be surprised if Obama had asked Clinton to visit Indonesia, in part, because of the “personal connection.�

But there were other important reasons for strengthening ties, too, he said, not least of all the ability of Indonesia to exert leadership, and to serve as a bridge between Muslim nations and the West.

For its part, Indonesia could benefit from economic cooperation and investment.

“There is a big opportunity for Indonesia and America to get closer,� Budiman said. “The role of Indonesia in Southeast Asia can be boosted – it can play a bigger role with the backing of the U.S.�

Indonesia is a complex archipelago of more than 240 million people, comprising some 17,000 islands stretched over three time zones.

Although home to some radical Islamist groups – and the target of several deadly terrorist attacks since 2002 – relatively moderate interpretations of Islam hold sway. Inter-religious tensions endure in some parts of the country, where deadly Muslim-Christian clashes in 1999-2002 cost thousands of lives.

In the years since the downfall of dictator Gen. Suharto in 1998, Indonesia has emerged as an increasingly open electoral democracy, and Yudhoyono in 2004 became the country’s first ever directly-elected president.

Two years later, Indonesia earned a Freedom House evaluation of “free� – a rarity for a Muslim-majority state, all but three of which are classified “not free� or “partly free� by the democracy and human rights watchdog.

Despite differences over the war in Iraq, relations with the U.S. improved during the Bush administration, with a strong focus on education and counter-terror cooperation, and a normalization of military ties.

Indonesian Islam ‘softer in nature’

Due to its size, Indonesia is an obvious candidate for leadership in the Muslim and developing worlds. Yet, despite having been a founding member of the Non-Aligned Movement half a century ago, it has restricted its focus in more recent times to its ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) neighborhood.

Analysts say its ASEAN role is an important one, helping the 10-nation grouping to resist succumbing to China’s growing regional clout. Nonetheless, Indonesian foreign policy specialists have been arguing that Jakarta should broaden its horizons.

Similar calls have come for several years from Australia, Indonesia’s neighbor to the south. Former Prime Minister John Howard argued in favor of a permanent seat for Indonesia on the U.N. Security Council, although the idea drew little support. His successor, Kevin Rudd, proposed last year that Indonesia become part of an Asia Pacific community along with heavyweights like the U.S., India, Japan and China.

Last week, a visiting British government minister urged Indonesia to play a bigger role in encouraging tolerance among its partners in the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), especially with regard to Mideast peace efforts. A similar call came from the government of the Netherlands, Indonesia’s former colonial ruler.

“In devoting special attention to Jakarta, the Obama administration is confirming a new political trend among major powers – the recognition of Indonesia’s recent achievements and their implications for the nation's changing profile in Asia and the world,� regional foreign policy analyst C. Raja Mohan, a professor at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, wrote in the Jakarta Post this week.

Budiman said Indonesia under Yudhoyono was especially well-placed to bridge differences between the Islamic world and the U.S.

While it retains the trust of Muslim countries in the Middle East, he said, “at the same time Indonesia is not a fanatical Muslim country.�

He acknowledged the presence of what he said was a small number of extremists, but described Islam in Indonesia as “softer in nature� than that found elsewhere.

(A small group of Islamists demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta on Monday, protesting Clinton’s visit and waving placards calling her a “Zionist.�)

“Indonesia will be a very good instrument to bridge relations between America and the Middle Eastern countries,� Budiman said.

He attributed this in part to the nature of Yudhoyono, who is favorite to win a second term in elections later this year. Although the president is regarded as a pious Muslim and respected as such by mainstream Muslims, “at the same time his view is very secular.�

Obama has indicated a desire to deliver a speech in a major Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office, focusing on America’s ties with the Muslim world.

Budiman said while many other factors would obviously be taken into account, Jakarta would be “strategically the right place� for Obama to give such an address. “He would be very well received in Indonesia.�