Since the 1998 ouster of the dictator Suharto -- who ruled Indonesia with an iron fist for over three decades -- the world's fourth most populous nation has undergone a series of rapid changes. Once dependent on foreign aid to exercise its basic functions, Indonesia has firmly established itself as a major economic player in the Asia-Pacific region, with the distinction of being the only Southeast Asian economy to be included in the Group of 20.
However, its rapid economic development wasn't the only achievement from which it can draw pride. Since the fall of Suharto's regime, there have been continued efforts to steer the country away from authoritarianism. Free elections are regularly held, and their results are rarely questioned, albeit in a few rare instances.
The armed forces were stripped of their political influence, and unlike in countries like Cambodia, Malaysia, and Thailand, the system that emerged following the collapse of the New Order regime was a secular one -- with a constitution that doesn't enshrine a particular faith as a state religion.
