Indonesia's Political Future

As Indonesia's election-season politics heat up, so too are a host of geopolitical challenges to the past 10 years of relative stability. The elections come at a crucial turning point for Indonesia as it faces an economic correction brought on by its need for structural reforms, China's slowdown, Europe's ongoing crisis and the phasing out of U.S. monetary stimulus. Hence in the short and medium term, the country faces a tough transition. However, it does not face a repeat of the near disintegration that afflicted it upon the collapse of former President Suharto's New Order regime in 1998. On the contrary, Indonesia has a chance to benefit from the monumental changes in China and rising U.S. engagement in the Asia-Pacific region.