Word: indonesia
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...people do have channels coming in from the outside, you can see the people under their religious gear wearing designer jeans. But the problem is in other places, with the Jihadists and the Wahibi Sect of Muslims. Oil money is now spreading through Pakistan all the way down to Indonesia, Malaysia and Africa, helping establish madrassas. They're teaching and brainwashing kids at a very young age nothing but their version of the Koran, hand in hand with terrorism and martyrdom...
...worry is real. Indonesia faces many of the same problems, such as rampant corruption, cited by Thailand's coupmakers as pretexts for seizing power. And like their Burmese counterparts, the Indonesian armed forces present themselves as the only institution that can hold a nation together?in this case, a fractious archipelago of 220 million people. Despite reforms designed to keep it out of politics, the Indonesian military remains highly resistant to the principle of civilian control...
...That soldiers now run Thailand?and are powerful political players in Indonesia and the Philippines?doesn't prove (as Burma's generals might gloat) that democracy is dead, but that many Asian democracies are immature and fragile, with political systems incapable of guaranteeing smooth and legitimate transfers of power. Even if General Sonthi keeps his promise and returns power to civilian hands, the damage is done. Neither the dictatorial style of Thaksin's rule, nor the manner of his departure, are worth celebration. Sukma believes the Thai coup will embolden "antidemocratic forces" across the region. "They are all laughing...
...Asia tsunami destroyed villages, towns and lives. But in calamity there is sometimes opportunity?a wiping of the slate that, for better or worse, allows people to start over. In the aftermath of the disaster, Tisna Nando, a 35-year-old environmentalist from Indonesia's North Sulawesi province, saw that kind of clean-slate opportunity. As an education-and-awareness manager at Fauna & Flora International (FFI), a U.K.-based environmental NGO, Nando has worked for the past two years to help the people of devastated Aceh province create a better future for themselves by learning to live in greater harmony...
...Progress is often measured in small victories. For example, Nando says her group convinced a local official to refrain from opening a restaurant that featured dishes made from the area's wild birds. But they are also tackling greater challenges. Aceh's forests are the most ecologically diverse in Indonesia, but clearcutting has taken a heavy toll. FFI was able to convince the heads of six Acehnese villages that reckless logging was destroying their future...