islands, extending over 3,000 miles of ocean from
east to west, that has captured the popular imag-
ination is Bali. The great majority of the people
are Muslims, but there are many ethnic groups,
and the unity of this far-flung nation of islands is
based on centuries of Dutch empire building
rather than on the homogeneity of the people or
on common attitudes. Two men held continuous
power from independence in 1949 to the mid-
1980s, Achmed Sukarno and General Suharto.
Following independence, constitutional govern-
ment lasted only until 1958. At least outwardly it
had been based on Western parliamentary
models, but Sukarno, the first president, chafed
under its restrictions and used the army to under-
mine parliamentary and political development.
Parliamentary-style government had not worked
well. None of the then existing four parties,
including the Communist Party, the largest in
south-east Asia, had been able to establish a com-
manding lead. Uneasy coalition governments reg-
ularly fell apart. The loyalties of the population
were in any case regional and local. Sukarno had
to cope with a series of rebellions in the outer
islands, and in 1958 with a military insurgency in
Sumatra. Political rivalry and widespread corrup-
tion did nothing to foster national pride.
Sukarno attempted to fashion a national image,
an Indonesian identity that increasingly rejected
the West. The constitutional façade had at least
served the purpose of encouraging Western devel-
opment aid, as in 1952 when Indonesia partici-
pated in the Commonwealth Colombo Plan.
Sukarno accepted Western aid and in 1960 Soviet
assistance as well. Championing a Third World
approach to global problems, he hosted in 1955
the Afro-Asian Bandung Conference, attended by
Nehru and Zhou Enlai, but it was regarded with
great suspicion in Washington, where a stance of
non-alignment was interpreted as anti-Western
and pro-communist. Sukarno’s rule was supported
by both the Communist Party and the anti-
communist army. Although Khrushchev saw an
opportunity to extend Soviet influence, neither
Moscow nor Washington knew how to assess
Sukarno’s Indonesia, as he cleverly played the
Cold War game, benefiting from both sides.
In 1958 Sukarno moved to an authoritarian
form of government, within a short time stifling
the influence of constitutional safeguards such as
the elected parliament, the political parties, the
independent judiciary and the press. He became
the supreme leader of his ‘guided democracy’.
Meanwhile, two powerful factions watched each
other warily, the communists and the military.
Most of the military approved of Sukarno’s coup.
Then, in October 1965, in what was the most vio-
lent convulsion in Indonesian politics, the com-
munists murdered six generals. What really
occurred has never been properly clarified. Was it
really the beginning of an attempted communist
coup? The army reacted with savagery and staged
its own coup against Sukarno. General Suharto,
one of those not on the assassination list, emerged
as Indonesia’s strongman. Over the next few
months communist supporters were killed in a
bloodbath that may have seen more than half a
million dead. Suharto effectively took control,
though Sukarno remained president until replaced
by Suharto.
In world affairs Sukarno had emerged as a
charismatic Third World leader, loud in his
denunciation of Western imperialism and strident
in promoting Indonesian nationalism. This
impeded economic development as he tried to
run Indonesia without Dutch technical assistance.
Later efforts to encourage Dutch and inter-
national investment foundered in the face of his
conflict with the Dutch over the future of the
western part of New Guinea, West Irian, which
the Dutch did not cede until 1963.
In south-east Asia Sukarno pursued expan-
sionist policies, in particular adopting a stance of594 TWO FACES OF ASIA: AFTER 1949
Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and
Thailand, 2000
Population GDP per head
(millions) (US$)Myanmar 47.7 200
Indonesia 212.1 730
Malaysia 22.2 3,850
Singapore 4.0 22,960
Thailand 62.8 2,010