Beyond the Book

Tracy Dahlby is a former managing editor of Newsweek International and an expert in the affairs of Asia, where he lived for thirteen years, serving as Tokyo bureau chief for the Washington Post and Newsweek. He is also a regular contributor to National Geographic magazine.  

According to Dahlby: In 2000, 75% of Indonesians surveyed in a major poll expressed positive feelings toward the US. Three years later, the figure stood at 15%.  The causes for this extraordinary swing are believed to be: perceived American arrogance toward Muslims after 9/11, the invasion of Iraq, and the sudden rise of a powerful Islamist movement in Indonesia that proposes turning secular Indonesia into a fundamentalist theocracy.

Useful links

• A relatively detailed map of Indonesiaia
• Facts and stats from the CIA Factbook

This article was originally published in February 2005, and has been updated for the December 2005 paperback release. Click here to go to this issue.

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