Indonesian Islam as Model for the World?

Abstract

Abstract Indonesia, after the fall of its three-decade dictatorship, has emerged as a successful Muslim-majority democracy where “moderate Islam” flourishes. This, however, comes as a shock to many Western diplomats, journalists, and political pundits who fretted about the imminent “Balkanization” of an Indonesia without a strongman ruler. To understand this surprising rebrand of a democratic Indonesia, one must attend to the rise of soft-power diplomacy that championed Indonesia as the home of “moderate Islam” and proof that Islam and democracy can coexist. This chapter provides a brief historical and political context for the Islamic turn in Indonesian foreign policy. It then examines public diplomacy initiatives that have brought together state and civil society religious leaders eager to define and defend the idea of “moderate Islam.” The chapter concludes by exploring Indonesia’s attempted export of an “Islam of the Archipelago” to the rest of the Muslim world.