In a joint statement released by both leaders a number of pledges were made; US companies were to be invited to partake in building Indonesia's infrastructure, $10 million of G-8 project monies were to be used to tackle corruption and improve the business climate, Indonesia was to receive tsunami relief aid, there would be a resumption of Trade and Investment talks and details of joint defence and security talks between the US and Indonesia militaries were announced. The following day the US agreed a partial lifting of the arms embargo on sales of military equipment to Indonesia. Both Presidents' Bush and Yudhoyono lavished praise upon one another and each other's countries and reiterated the warm and cordial relations that they wished for between America and Indonesia. Bush also cited Indonesia's pivotal role in fostering relations between the Islamic world and the West. He said, "Indonesia will play a large role and a significant role in helping us understand that great religions should co-exist in a peaceful way".

The cementing of Indonesian and US ties follows a flurry of activity over the past few years that has seen Indonesia and the Southeast Asian region in general resonate more readily on America's radar of global influence. The levers used by the USA have been many and cover a range of diplomatic, economic, military and cultural factors.

The Greatest Prize

With regard to the economic aspects that flavour the US- Indonesian relationship, this goes back some 50 years. US control in Indonesia started at the time of the Sukarno administration in the 1950's and intensified with President Suharto in 1965. Indonesia is a nation rich with resources; huge oil and gas reserves, gold deposits, tin, copper, bauxite, tropical forests, nickel and other hydrocarbons and minerals as well being strategically placed for vital sea and shipping lanes. Presently, Indonesia's territory carries 30% of the world's sea borne trade, is a vital transit route for the US naval fleet and half the world's oil passes through the Malacca strait.

Foreign companies and multinationals entered the country in the 1960's and have solidified western involvement ever since. Richard Nixon said in 1967,
"With its 100 million people and its 300 mile arc of islands containing the regions richest hoard of natural resources, Indonesia is the greatest prize in Southeast Asia"

Throughout the 1960's, on the pretext of rebuilding the nation, western companies and banks virtually took over the whole of Indonesia's commercial and business sector with different industries carved out to respective countries overseen by huge IMF and World Bank loans. The major players involved from this time until now remain largely the same; the Ford Foundation, US Agency for International Development, US steel, The Freeport company, International Paper corporation, General Motors and many more. A World Bank official noted during this time that:
"Indonesia is the best thing that has happened to Uncle Sam since the end of World War II".

US influence in Indonesia through economic and business ties over the past few decades has also been mirrored in the military field as well. During the reign of Suharto, US-Indonesia military ties were very strong with the US being the main supplier in terms of arms, weaponry and military training and expertise. This continued even after the Indonesian army's (commonly known as the TNI) brutal annexation of East Timor in 1975 and the heavy handed use of force by the TNI in displacing and killing up to 200,000 East Timorese. Throughout this period US acquiescence was granted and America continued to supply military hardware. This was due to the perceived greater danger of a communist presence in Southeast Asia (East Timor was left leaning and Vietnam had gone communist in the 1970's) as well as US policy in supporting Indonesia as the largest nation in the newly formed ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). Thus America's strategic interests in the region were best served by supporting the Indonesian regime and the TNI in particular.

Relations between the US and Indonesia cooled during the 1990's due to three events; firstly, the fall of Communism in Europe and the Soviet Union meant that the threat to US interests from 'communist countries' in Southeast Asia was essentially benign. Secondly, in 1991 the TNI fired upon a group of peaceful pro-independence protestors in the East Timorese capital of Dili. This event was escalated to a full blown incident as it was filmed by foreign journalists and Indonesia came under international criticism. As a result, the US was forced to curtail some of its military ties with the TNI. The US congress imposed a ban on the training of Indonesian officers under the State department's International Military Education and Training (IMET) program.

The ban was extended to arms sales after militia's and armed groups rampaged through East Timor in 1999 killing hundreds of people and causing damage as the province was about to vote for independence from Indonesian rule. The TNI were largely blamed for the ensuing bloodshed and senior TNI generals were accused of complicity in some of the atrocities that were committed.

Indonesia and the GWOT
Further to the events of 9/11 US policy makers started to take a closer look at US-Indonesia ties and the South East Asia region. As part of the global war on terror (GWOT), the US wanted to sign up as many countries to accompany her on the pretext of fighting terrorism and dismantling terror networks across the globe. America gave Indonesia $50m to pursue 'terrorist' groups despite there being very little evidence of such activity.

However, the reaction in Indonesia and as in most of the Muslim world to America's GWOT has been a mixture of fear and loathing with the majority of Muslims seeing the GWOT as a war on Islam and a campaign to further US interests. In Indonesia, the public reaction to the US wish to include it as the 'second front on the war on terror' was to reject this claim. In 2002, a survey showed only 1% of the population viewed the 'war on terror' in Indonesia as a valid pursuit. At first, the government appeared to agree with this position. In a reference to the US assault on Afghanistan to search and destroy Al Qaeda, the foreign minister Hasan Wirayuda, said: "The fact is that Indonesia is not Afghanistan and we don't believe that Indonesia will be a future Afghanistan."

However, relentless US pressure to extend the GWOT soon produced a shift in the Indonesian government's stance. After the Bali bombing of October 2002, the US placed Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) on its list of terrorist organisations before any charges or trial had taken place. The US also vented its displeasure at the judicial process for giving a light sentence to the Bali bombers and the slow pace of the investigations. The US alleged that JI and Laskar Jihad (LJ) were linked to Al Qaeda or were at least sympathetic to its causes. US pressure soon paid off and the Indonesia government was forced to do a U-turn. For example, in 2003 then President Megawati Sukarnoputri said that her government would 'dismantle the terrorist network to its roots'. In last years Presidential elections, both candidates, Megawati and Yudhoyono, ran on a platform of pledging to be severe on any radical Islamic groups or anti American outfits. The New York Times commented: "The United States did not publicly express its preference in the election, but Washington officials made it clear that they believed that the general [Yudhoyono] had a better grasp of how to control Jemaah Islamiyah, the radical Islamic group held responsible" for the terrorist attacks in Indonesia.

US support for the Indonesian army:

US support and closer ties with the TNI is aimed at bringing about the following:

The TNI is Indonesia's most powerful institution and a key determinant in whoever comes to power. Indeed, Yudhoyono is an ex general who served under previous Indonesian regimes.
To create a core group of western orientated officers and generals that will remain loyal to US interests similar to other countries such as Pakistan
Use the TNI to maintain order and stability in Indonesia so as to facilitate a climate for western multinationals and foreign capital.
To promote the TNI and Indonesia as a regional power and example of a 'moderate' Muslim country to the Islamic world
In August 2002 ten Americans were killed in Timika, West Papua, the mineral rich eastern part of Indonesia. They were ambushed at the site of the world's largest gold mine owned by US multinational Freeport-McMoran. Initial speculation at the instigators fell upon rogue elements within the TNI and this was corroborated by FBI investigations as well. The US congress extended the ban on US Indonesian military ties and made the resumption of IMET dependent on TNI cooperation into the killings. However, the Indonesian army denied responsibility and blamed the Free Papua Movement (OPM) a secessionist movement seeking autonomy and independence from Indonesia.

Despite the condemnation of the attack by human rights groups and individual US politicians no real pressure was brought to bear upon the Indonesian government or the TNI. Rather, policy throughout the first Bush administration was to repeal the ban on arms sales to Indonesia and bring about closer ties. The architect of US policy towards Indonesia was former deputy secretary of defence, Paul Wolfowitz, who had been ambassador to Indonesia for three years and was considered an expert on the region. He told the Washington Post in 2002 that even if the TNI were implicated in the West Papua killings, US military aid should continue because "more contact with the West and with the United States and moving them in a positive direction is important both to support democracy in Indonesia and to support the fight against terrorism".

Notwithstanding this event, further pressure to increase military ties was brought by the RAND Corporation who issued a report asking for the resumption of US-Indonesian military ties and the lifting of the ban on IMET. The report stated that "Since military training for Indonesia was effectively terminated in 1992, there has been a 'lost generation' of Indonesian officers - officers who have no experience with the United States or who have no understanding of the importance that the United States military attaches to civilian leadership, democracy, and respect for human rights,"

This was echoed by the Defence Department who called for greater military ties with the TNI. Donald Rumsfeld said," I think it is unfortunate that the U.S. today does not have military-to-military relationships with Indonesia".

Other lobby groups during this period called for the resumption of IMET as well as increased arms sales and military co-operation between the two countries. The most influential amongst them has been the United States-Indonesia Society (USINDO), a Washington-based non-governmental organization whose members include major US corporations with businesses in Indonesia, such as Exxon-Mobil and Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold.

In June 2004, the US administration reversed its previous reticence on the West Papua incident and sided with the TNI's version of events. Attorney General, John Ashcroft, indicted an Indonesian commander of the OPM as responsible for the killings of the US citizens. Finally, in February 2005 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that the IMET program would be resumed after a 14 year suspension and that the US administration was satisfied that the Indonesian government and TNI were taking the appropriate steps for reform and accountability. Rice said that "IMET for Indonesia is in the US interest".

The 26th December 2004 earthquake and resulting Tsunami that devastated the region predominantly had its biggest impact in Indonesia's north west region of Aceh. The TNI came under widespread criticism from aid agencies and people within the effected region due to their slow and inadequate response. Troops and resources were not deployed to Aceh until a few days after the tsunami struck and many thousands of people remained homeless and destitute weeks after the tragedy. Only a tiny fraction (5%) of the thousands of TNI troops stationed in Aceh were mobilised for the relief efforts. Reports stated that the TNI refused aid and prevented relief organisations from helping those in need so that they remained in control. Others reported that the TNI restarted its attacks against Acehnese rebels in the long running secessionist dispute. The TNI's own report of the tsunami relief operation acknowledges the poor response it showed towards the disaster. It states that it's humanitarian commitment 'was minimal, primarily aimed towards Indonesian and Western public opinion and not, as its chief executives and PR claimed, to any genuine humanitarian relief in Aceh'.

Yet, despite the widespread criticism of the Indonesian authorities and the TNI in particular, the USA lavished considerable praise upon the TNI as part of the current climate in fostering closer ties between the two nations. On March 10th, Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Marie Huhtala said,

"The Indonesian military, contrary to the assumptions of many in the international media did not attempt systematically to siphon off aid, prevent relief workers from reaching tsunami victims, or impose onerous restrictions on them"

The USA has largely supported the Indonesian government and TNI's efforts to quell the secessionist movements in Aceh and West Papua and has been muted in its response to the disproportionate force used by the TNI against the Free Aceh movement (GAM) and the Free Papua movement (OPM). Thus far, America has refused to have either of these groups put on its list of terrorist organisation. However, on 25th May President Bush reaffirmed his support for Indonesia's territorial integrity and reiterated the US position that it opposed secessionist movements in any part of Indonesia.

Parallel to US efforts at supporting the TNI in order to engender closer ties with Indonesia, the US has also intensified its cultural and educational assault upon Indonesia. With the world's fourth largest population, and hundreds of millions of Muslims, the USA has made fervent attempts to mould and promote a type of Islam to its liking. Deputy secretary of state, Robert Zoellick, commented that the region was important as part of the intra-Muslim struggle for the 'soul of Islam'.

The US has increased efforts to strengthen the cultural and educational ties between the two nations. In reality, it has been blatant propaganda to change Muslim hearts and minds and replace Islamic ideas with western secular values. In October 2003, Bush pledged $157m dollars as part of a 6 year program to change Indonesia's education system to allow the teaching of a more 'moderate' Islam, quell anti Americanism and facilitate greater contact with the West. In addition, working behind the scenes the US Agency for International Aid (USAID) has helped fund 30 Muslim organisations. These programs cover media production, workshops for Islamic scholars, curriculum reform and radio stations and newspapers. All intended to show 'Islamic tolerance', the West in a more favourable light and highlight Islam's compatibility with democracy and human rights.

With regard to the Southeast Asian region it is likely that there will be heightened US activity over the coming years. America is concerned with Islamic activism within Malaysia and the Philippines, in particular the southern part of Mindanao. Last month, the US charge d'affaires remarked that this area was turning into a centre for terrorists and risked becoming another Afghanistan. The US is also perturbed by the strong sentiments for Islam shown by the Muslims for the plight of their brethren worldwide as shown by the recent demonstrations in Indonesia against the massacres in Uzbekistan and the abuse of the Qur'an by US forces.

The USA will continue to develop closer economic ties in the form of free trade agreements with Singapore and Thailand to tap into the rich natural resources of the area. On a security level the US wishes to extend its military and naval bases in the Asia-Pacific region so that it can keep a close eye on North Korea and China and extend the sale of its anti-missile system which Australia, Philippines, India and Japan have signed up to. Finally, the US recently announced that it wished to revitalise ASEAN and intends to use its close ties with Indonesia as a foothold in this important region.