Why Not Indonesia For Obama's Speech?

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Jun 2 2009, 1:24 pm by Marc Ambinder

American and Muslim scholars wonder why President Obama didn't choose to speak to the world's Muslims from the world's most populous Muslim country -- Indonesia -- which happens to be more democratic than Egypt, where Obama touches down on Thursday. The answer is two-fold: Egypt is a critical American ally, and not just because it took some terrorists off of our hands and tortured them. When it comes to dealing with Iran, Egyptian public opinion constrains the ability of Hosni Mubarak's government, which disparately wants to keep "the Persians" from going nuclear. As it stands, Mubarak has to cast the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as more troublesome than Iran, even though he probably believes the opposite. When it comes to vital American interests, a more pro-American Egyptian populace will give Mubarak leverage. A harsher American line against Israeli settlements and Obama's vocal endorsement of a two-state solution have also helped. (I'm not saying that Egypt doesn't believe that an agreement between the PA and Israel isn't a necessary first step, just that, so far as threats to the Arab and Muslim worlds go, Tehran outranks Israel. An unstable Gaza and West Bank are just as dangerous in the near-term.)

Comments (3)

rikyrah June 2, 2009 2:00 PM

Because the Muslims in Indonesia aren't what come immediately to mind when the ' average American' says ' Muslim'.

Go to where Americans are most suspicious of Muslims. If you actually TOLD the ' average American' that the country with the most Muslims was in ASIA, they'd tell you that you were lying.

I'm not happy with him going to Saudi Arabia or Egypt, and will sigh with relief once he is out of both countries.

aarifian June 2, 2009 4:20 PM

It's all geopolitics: while Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world (90% of its 240 million population are Muslims) and it is one of the few stable Muslim-majority democracy in the world, it is located outside the Middle East, thus, it is not high on US policymakers' radar screen.

Plus, only a small number of high-level State Dept and Pentagon officials know Indonesia well (and speak the Bahasa language) and only a small number (less than half a dozen) US academics could be considered as Indonesian experts. On the other hand, the number of US policymakers and academics studying ME politics are very sizable. I assume there must be more than a dozen policymakers and academics who know Egypt politics well that can be easily reached via phone or e-mail from the Oval Office.

I personally think Obama should have made the speech in Indo given its growing reputation as a Muslim democracy - it just completed a parliamentary election last April and will have its second direct presidential election next month (a fact that scarcely been covered by US media outlets, even the usually attentive Lehrer Newshour). You have to turn to the BBC or Australian TV to find good coverage of Indo elections.

However, given the lack of US policymakers and academics who know Indo well, sadly the country is being passed over again. I guess until the day Obama finally does pay a visit, Indonesians should be satisfied with Hillary Clinton's visit last February.

ejagrn June 2, 2009 6:47 PM

Because Cairo has historically been the cultural and intellectual capital of the Muslim world. Obama knows history.