During much of Soeharto's thirty-two years of reign as president (1967-1998) Indonesia was seen as a successful test-case in third-world development, a wayward pariah turned into a shining example of modern economic planning and democracy. His New Order government won awards from the United Nations for the country's advances in family planning. The nation's massive development plans won the applause of the World Bank and international financiers. In fact, behind the New Order's benign facade was an intricate web of nepotism, corruption and a persistent and wide-ranging repression of civil...
During much of Soeharto's thirty-two years of reign as president (1967-1998) Indonesia was seen as a successful test-case in third-world development, ...