An Indonesian Future: Overcoming the Challenges of an Islamic Democracy: Aguswandi Is an Indonesian Post-Conflict Advisor and a Senior Program Officer for the Aceh Peace Resource Center. He Is Also a Human Rights Advocate and a Former Leader of the Aceh People's Party (Perspectives‪)‬

When Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is widely known by his initials (SBY), addressed a prestigious audience gathered at the Harvard Kennedy School Forum in September 2009, he confidently asserted his country's place in the world. At Harvard, one of the world's most respected universities, SBY wanted to reply to President Obama's June 2009 speech at Cairo University, the oldest university in the Middle East. Aides close to the Indonesian President confided that SBY himself had revised the speech a dozen times leading up to the event, trying to find the appropriate tone and narrative. He thought it very important that Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world and the place where the US president had spent his childhood, answer Obama's challenge. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]