Indonesia Is The Country That I Have Selected To Conduct... Essay - 2,225 words

Indonesia is the country that I have selected to conduct my research. I will research the following 5 topics all in the 20th century. 1. The important aspects of the Indonesian culture Indonesia is the world's largest archipelago, that achieved independence from the Netherlands in 1949. The Indonesian archipelago despite rich historical and cultural heritage is extremely influenced by the XX century world issues. Indonesia is emerged in widespread poverty, ever-growing external debt to the USA, IMF, and other financial institutions. The traditional monarchy and authoritarian rule in the country is currently being substituted by the elected government, while the great number of masterpieces of cultural importance are sold abroad because of the wide spread corruption (Thomas, 23).


Another important cultural element attributable to Indonesia is the abundance of languages, thus making each inhabitant a polyglot, capable of speaking at least 3 languages (Johnson, 89). I should also note that Indonesia also is home to a rich tapestry of other ethnically distinc indigenous people. The Dani, Asmat, and dozens of other tribes of Irian Jaya (the Indonesian province on the island of New Guinea) are of Melanesian stock. The people of Nusa Tenggara (Lesser Sunda) islands ... the Dayaks of Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of Borneo)...and the Batak of North Sumatra, each represent groups of distinct ethnic origins and customs (Donahue, 58). The lively arts, music and dance, are widespread throughout Indonesia. Traditional forms, especially gamelan music from Java and dance from Bali, have long been known beyond the borders of Indonesia.


They are still being learned from childhood and performed actively to this day. Indonesia's graphic arts, most notably its fabled textiles, including Javanese batik and ikat weavings from Sumatra and the Nusa Tenggara islands have achieved high forms of expression an are prized by collectors the world over. Many of Indonesia's smaller ethnic groups, particularly the Batak, Dayak, Nias and Asmat peoples have developed a strongly characteristic form of artistic expression, rendered prolifically in ceremonial objects, fashioned in unique design motifs from wood and stone (Schwarz, 293). In the face of such ethnic diversity, the newly-formed republic decided following independence that a single, standard, nationwide language was essential as ameands of uniting Indonesia's people (Donald, 197). To this day, local dialects can still be heard in villages throughout the archipelago. But "Bahasa Indonesia" (which gained formal recognition in the 1920s, founded on the traditional Malay language, which is also today's official language in neighboring Malaysia) has met with almost universal exceptance --- making it one of the most widely spoken languages in the world (Thomas, 27).


The patterns characterizing Indonesia's ethnic history can also be seen in the country's religious development. In successive phases, Indonesia was influenced bythe spread of Animism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity (Donahue, 59). Today, the country's dominant religion is Islam. Indeed, with over 85 percent of the population following the Islamic faith, Indonesia has more Moslem adherents than the entire Arab world. Today, the world's most magnificent Buddhist temple, Borobudur, can be found only a few miles from one of Hinduism's most important historic shrines, Prambanan, in Central Java and it presents a wonderful cultural heritage to the whole region. Meanwhile, in modern downtown Jakarta, the city's Roman Catholic cathedral and Istiqlal, the largest of its Islamic mosques, stand only a few hundred meters apart.


2. The countrys relationship with the United States. Due to the fact that Indonesia faces severe economic development problems, stemming from secessionist movements and the low level of security in the regions the country actively cooperates with the USA. The USA is the third largest trading partner of Indonesia that accounts for 10.3% of total exports (China 14%, Japan 12%). Indonesia also is emerged in constant struggle for power among the former military leaders, politicians, and businessmen. The violent acts that are present in Indonesia certainly cause various problems in the area and that gives the USA the reason to get involved in the region.


The Indonesian economy that is based on oil, and textile exports give the USA another incentive to get engage in the area that is abundant in natural resources (Donahue, 59). The cheap labor and competent populace of Indonesia causes numerous companies (including Nike, Reebok, etc.) to switch the manufacturing to Indonesia (Johnson, 93). Speaking about political relationships between the USA and Indonesia I would like to note that with political tension building in Indonesia over the United States military attacks on Afghanistan, US business groups are hoping to increase support for the government of Megawati Sukarnoputri by convincing Congress to lift the ban on military training for Jakarta (Schwarz, 294). The push to normalize military relations with Indonesia is coming from two influential business groups in Washington, the US-ASEAN Business Council, which represents over 400 US corporations doing business in Southeast Asia, and the US Indonesia Society, a private group whose membership includes top business and government officials from both countries (Thomas, 30). According to the US-ASEAN council, foreign direct investment in the ASEAN region last year dropped to half the level of 1997, from $32.5 billion to $13.8 billion. At the same time, the recession in the United States is reducing Southeast Asian exports.


"The US won't be able to pull Southeast Asian exports like it did in 1998 and 1999," Bower said. US still strives to remain an influential trading partner for Indonesia and the whole region. 3. The revolution for independence 1940's Prior to going into detail about the revolution, I should say that because Indonesia achieved national independence through revolution, the early years of the new republic were focused on forging a consensus of national unity and basic political orientation under the leadership of Soekarno, the nation's founding president. The first two decades following independence were marked by political and economic turbulence not uncommon among countries in the initial stages of nation building (Donahue, 61). After the attact on Pearl Harbour in 1941 the Japanese conquered most of Southeast Asia in a few months. In mMarch 1942 they had occupied Birma, Malakka and Indonesia, and only Luzon was still fighting.


Well informed Indonesians like Sjahrir did preview the arrival of the Japanese, but for most Indonesians it was no more than disgodging the Dutch rule. The untouchable authorities were gone, with their language, culture and economical structure. Indonesians were posted on high places and Bahasa Indonesia, not Japanese, replaced the Dutch language (Johnson, 97). At first the change seemed a positive one, but that changed as long as the war continued. Export crops ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

...................You are reading a preview................... Visit our Blog and Unlock Full Access to this essay

Continue READING the FULL Essay by clicking HERE

Essay Tags: indonesia, natural resources, indonesian, resource, united states

This is an Essay sample / Research paper, you can use it for your research of: Indonesia Is The Country That I Have Selected To Conduct