The fall of Soeharto brought two dominant trends in Indonesian politics. Expectedly, it brough political liberalisation and greater awareness of human rights. But unexpectedly, it unleased many radical Muslim voices who, like the democrats, had been suppressed under Soeharto. It would be interesting if someone could write about the trajectory of these two forces in the key period from the advent of krismon in 1997 to the Bali bombings in 2002. It was certainly interesting to observe as a foreigner living in Jakarta at that time. I remember the first terrorist bombing in August 2000 in which the Filipino ambassador was maimed.

The future of Indonesia will probably be decided by which of these two forces, not necessarily mutually exclusive in all respects, ends up dominant. As an Australian with a Christian Indonesia wife though I hope it's the former.