Insular Southeast Asia - Dragons and Tigers: A Geography of South, East and Southeast Asia - page 479

“nominal” Muslims holding only loosely to Islam' s pre-
cepts. In recent years, however, radical Islamic move-
ments have arisen. As the West' s war on terror reached
into Indonesia, the government was pressed to investi-
gate possible al-Qaeda links. T Terrorists responded in
2002 by bombing a nightclub in Bali. More than 200 peo-
ple, mostly vacationing Australians, were killed. A Mar-
riott hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta were
bombed in 2003.
An organization called Jemaah Islamiah is said to be
responsible for these and other terrorist acts. Jemaah Is-
lamiah adheres to the Wahabi sect of Islam, a strictly fun-
damentalist form of the faith imported from Saudi
Arabia. This and other fundamentalist groups want
sharia applied as the law of the land, as it already is in
Aceh. Mosques and religious schools promote hatred of
the United States and Israel. More than 30 people linked
to Jemaah Islamiah have been convicted and sentenced
to prison for their part in the Bali and Marriott bombings.
The group' s suspected leader, Abu Bakar Bashir, was
arrested but released in 2006 after serving two years in
prison. In 2007, he gave a sermon in which he referred to
Bali tourists as “worms, snakes and maggots” with spe-
cific reference to the “immorality of Australian infidels.”
He has also claimed that the Bali bombings were the re-
sult of a “micro-bomb” planted by the CIA in concert
with “Australia and the Jews.” The actual Bali bombers
were executed by firing squad in 2008. While denying
his connection with Jemaah Islamiah, Bashir is forming a
new group—Jemaah Ansharut Tauhid—“partisans of the
oneness of God,” in order to continue his jihad for a
sharia -run Islamic state.
Once regarded as a haven for moderate Muslims, In-
donesia is in the throes of a struggle between moderates
and conservatives. The moderates seek pluralism and ac-
commodation, a form of Islam that steers away from the
sort of orthodoxy that discriminates against women and
non-Muslims, and embraces democracy . The conserva-
tives want Islam to control all aspects of all citizens' lives.
However, it should be noted that Islamic political parties
have been losing influence at the national level.
Orthodox Islam appeals to the poor and also to the
middle class, many of whom have a Western education.
The transition to democracy since 1998 has done little to
improve the lives of the vast majority of Indonesians.
The government claims to have stabilized the economy
and secured an annual growth of almost four percent.
But critics point to rising prices and rampant corruption.
At the same time, political freedom has allowed propo-
nents of conservative Islam to promote their views.

The outcome of the struggle has profound implica-
tions, not just for security , but also for economic progress
and political stability in the region. Should the conserva-
tives prevail, it could provoke conflict with the country' s
sizeable non-Muslim community (more than 20 million
Christians, for example), produce a foreign policy more
critical of the West, and an investment environment less
friendly to non-Muslim investors. It would also ensure a
steady stream of potential recruits for radical groups like
Jemaah Islamiah.

PROGNOSIS
As Indonesia' s resources are increasingly eroded and as
population growth continues, it will be difficult, if not
impossible, to reign in the outer resource regions to the
will of the industrial core of Java. It also will be difficult,
if not impossible, to suppress the many self-determina-
tion movements across this vast region. It also will be
problematic to control the progress of conservative Is-
lam. These are only three of many problems facing the
current government and President Susilo Bambang
Y udhoyono.

Timor-Leste: New Nation

Timor is the easternmost of the lesser Sunda Islands. The
eastern part of Timor was a Portuguese colony until it
was overrun by Indonesia in 1975 and annexed in 1976.
Subsequently , East Timor became the scene of a bitter
struggle for independence. T Tens of thousands of Timo-
rese were killed by the Indonesian army . The infrastruc-
ture was destroyed and thousands of people were
dislocated. Foreign intervention, led by Australia (once
Indonesia' s only supporter of its claim to East Timor),
brought some semblance of order. East Timor became the
independent nation of Timor-Leste in 2002.
As Figure 16-23 reveals, sovereignty has created geo-
political complications. The political entity of Timor-
Leste comprises a main territory containing the capital of
Dili, along with a small exclave on the north coast of In-
donesian West Timor. This exclave is called Ocussi. Al-
though there is a road from Ocussi to the main territory ,
relations between Indonesia and Timor-Leste may not al-
low this road to be used, so that the two parts of the state
would have to be connected by boat traffic only .
A second problem has to do with oil. South of Timor-
Leste is an area called the Timor Gap that contains major
oil and gas reserves. While Indonesia ruled East Timor,