Indonesia is the sort of friend America needs
Tom Plate says Jakarta could be Washington's special ally in Asia and the Muslim world
Within days, US President Barack Obama is set to visit Southeast Asia and this is a very good thing. The region is becoming more significant by the month.
I am slightly sad he will grace only three countries: Burma, Thailand and Cambodia. Taken together, the region's population comes in at about 600 million, half of which is Muslim.
America especially needs extra focus on Indonesia, where 90 per cent of its 248 million citizens are Muslims, making it the country with the largest Islamic population anywhere.
The US needs to keep repeating that last fact. Not too long ago, Jakarta was a main crossroads in America's anti-communist crusade in Asia but when the Iron Curtain fell, so, generally, did Washington's interest.
The country has suffered shock after shock of bloody terrorist attacks and recovered; it practically tore itself apart economically (helped along by bad Western advice) during the Asian financial crisis - and recovered.
Despite suffering a series of ineffectual leaders, it is evolving away from authoritarianism and practises a rough-functioning democracy that offers real promise. Today, Indonesia is on its feet, with a forward-moving economy, a president who is ensconced in his second term, and a future that looks markedly more hopeful.