Will Prabowo Subianto cosy up to Donald Trump or to China?
The first foreign trips for Indonesia’s new president raise awkward questions
In September 1985 analysts from the CIA puzzled over who might succeed Suharto, Indonesia’s dictator and a stalwart opponent of communism. If the old man stayed in power into the 1990s, they reckoned, then his son-in-law, Army Captain Prabowo Subianto, might be a plausible heir. American officials had already begun cultivating Mr Prabowo, inviting him to America to attend military courses. A Prabowo presidency, they reckoned, would keep Indonesia on their side.
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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Prabowo goes to China (and Florida)”
From the November 9th 2024 edition
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