Background:
Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago; it achieved
independence from the Netherlands in 1949. Current issues include:
alleviating widespread poverty, implementing IMF-mandated reforms of
the banking sector, effecting a transition to a popularly-elected
government after four decades of authoritarianism, addressing
charges of cronyism and corruption, holding the military and police
accountable for human rights violations, and resolving growing
separatist pressures in Aceh and Papua.