17 July 2009 Jakarta bombing: the aftermath and longer-term implications

Although the carnage in Indonesia was not as great or as bloody as in 2002, 2003 or 2005, the political lessons to be learned in the immediate aftermath of the July 17 2009 bombing are not to be neglected. There are also various implications of the outrage on Indonesia’s self-confidence which bear reflection as the world’s most populous Muslim nation and Southeast Asia’s largest economy moves towards playing a regional role with global reach, which was how President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono (SBY) had described it in a lecture at the LSE on 31 March 2009.