Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous nation and a developing economy in transition. It is now consolidating its democratic government and implementing governance and financial reforms. After the
Asian financial crisis of 1997-99, Indonesia’s economy has returned to a strong and stable 5‑6% annual growth.
Over recent decades, its resource wealth, openness to trade and investment, and a strategically favourable location in East Asia have made Indonesia a key global exporter of oil, gas, and coal. However, Indonesia now faces the serious challenge of fast-rising domestic energy demand with declining oil and gas
production. The country’s energy policy makers are looking closely at domestic energy requirements and best policies to meet these needs. This includes moving prices towards international parity, improving the energy sector investment climate, and developing electricity generation capacity. While some very difficult
decisions have been made over recent years, many challenges remain. Energy Policy Review of Indonesia assesses the country’s major energy issues. The study was conducted by a team of IEA member country specialists – an approach which has also been used for national and sectoral reviews of other
non-IEA countries, including Angola, China, India, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Western Balkan region. The Review offers an analysis of Indonesia’s energy sector, with findings and recommendations that draw on experience in IEA member countries. Six areas are suggested for priority attention, including progressive reduction in fuel and electricity subsidies, better implementation of policy, improving clarity of the investment framework, helping the energy regulators do their job more effectively, and harnessing a sustainable development agenda particularly renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The Struggle of the Shi‘is in Indonesia is a pioneering work. It is the first comprehensive scholarly examination in English of the development of Shiism in Indonesia. It focuses primarily on the important period between 1979 and 2004 – a period of nearly a quarter of a century that saw the notable dissemination of Shi’i ideas and a considerable expansion of the number of Shi’i adherents in Indonesia. Since Islam in Indonesia is overwhelmingly Sunni, this development of Shiism in a predominantly Sunni context is a remarkable phenomenon that calls for careful, critical investigation.

Indonesia over the past two decades has embarked on a process of decentralization as part of a broader process of democratization, which followed earlier periods of centralized governance and authoritarian rule across the archipelago.

Despite their close geographic and cultural ties, Indonesia and Malaysia have dramatically different Islamic education, with that in Indonesia being relatively decentralized and discursively diverse, while that in Malaysia is centralized and discursively restricted.