Indonesia: Another al Qaeda Defeat

Archives

November 12, 2007: Islamic radicalism has fizzled in Indonesia. There are still Islamic radicals, but they have shifted from terrorism to arguing over what Islamic ring tones should be allowed on cell phones, or whether prayers should be said in Indonesian, rather than Arabic.

November 11, 2007:The security situation has improved in East Timor, but the economy has not. Most people have no jobs and many are still living in refugee camps. Prospects are not good.

November 4, 2007: In Papua, villagers rioted after a tribal chief collapsed and died during a scuffle with police. Several rioters were killed or wounded by the police. Most Indonesians are Malay, while the largely tribal peoples of Papua are Melanesian. The two groups do not get along, partly because the Malays are better educated and organized. Most of the Papuan tribes want more autonomy, or even independence. But the tribes have many feuds with each other, which makes it easier for the national government to maintain control of the region (which is the western half of the island of New Guinea.)

 

X

ad

Help Keep Us From Drying Up

We need your help! Our subscription base has slowly been dwindling.

Each month we count on your contribute. You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
  2. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  3. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
Subscribe   contribute   Close