{UAH} Indonesia: A Democracy at the Crossroads

Afuwa Kasule/ Mayimuna

Here is a conference I am going to attend this wednesday- it is quite an important conference, given the unique position Indonesia sits in at the moment. It has emerged from decades of fascist military dictatorship under Suharto, and is relatively stable, compared to its Arab neighbours.

 Indonesia is the  most populous muslim country in the world- but astonishingly also had the biggest communist party in the world, outside of China and the Soviet Union. 

Indonesia has been relatively free from radical islam for a variety of factors:

1. The military dictatorship came down very heavily on Islamist organisations.

2. The country has a very deep secular background, with a very strong communist affiliation.

I am interested in Indonesia for political as well as sentimental reasons. It is in Indonesia, in 1965, when the first attempt in the world was made to wipe out Communists. In the biggest genocide ever committed in human history, the Indonesian army, supported by the CIA and American imperialism, set out to murder each and every member of the Indonesian Communist Party. More than 1 million Indonesian  Communists and people suspected to be communists, were murdered in what would  come to pass as one of the darkest chapters of the 19th Century.

But the genocide committed against the Communists has never been fully told and is today generally swept under the carpet. That's why I am going to raise this issue at this conference on wednesday. I guess I am not going to be very popular- but that does not bother me. 

Bobby

LSE SU Indonesian Society shared their event.

Sponsored

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Indonesia prides itself as one of the world's largest democracies, a product of the 1998 'Reformasi' period. It has managed to combine Islamic pluralism and democracy for the last two decades. Yet events over the last few years suggest a strong challenge to the country's democratic institutions and pluralist principles. How will Indonesian democracy go forward? And what implications will there be for the region and the world?

In this panel event, we will discuss these challenges and their implications for Indonesia and the region moving forward. The LSE SU Indonesian Society and ASEAN Society, supported by the UCL and Imperial College Indonesian Societies, are proud to host "Indonesia - A Democracy at the Crossroads" with the following event details:

Location: LSE Clement House 2.02
Date: Wednesday, 22 November 2017
Time: 18.00-end

In this event, we will be hosting the following distinguished speakers:

H. E. DR RIZAL SUKMA - Dr Sukma is the Indonesian Ambassador to the United Kingdom. After obtaining his PhD in International Relations from the LSE, Dr Sukma acted as Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, one of Indonesia's premier think tanks, and an advisor to President Joko Widodo. His research interests focused on Indonesian foreign policy and regional security.

ANTON ALIFANDI - Mr. Alifandi is the Head of ASEAN Research at FT Confidential Research, a research service wing of the Financial Times. After earning his MSc in Development Studies at LSE, Mr. Alifandi worked as a journalist in BBC Indonesia, Associated Press and Kompas Gramedia. He later became an analyst for IHS Markit before moving on to his current position.

A Third Speaker TBC

Moderator: DR KIRSTEN SCHULZE
Dr Schulze is Associate Professor of International History at the LSE. She was Deputy Director of LSE Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre (2014-2016), and has held positions in LSE IDEAS and Chatham House. Dr Schulze earned a DPhil in Politics from Oxford University, and her research interests encompass communal and sectarian violence, political Islam and militant jihadism in Indonesia.

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This event is FREE and available to attend for LSE students and staff. Attendees from other aforementioned universities are also welcome. Please arrive on time - our event will start exactly at the stated time.

NOV22

Interested

Indonesia: A Democracy at the Crossroads

Wed 18:00 · CLM 2.02, The London School of Economics and Political Science - LSE

55 people intereste

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