Indonesia in the late 1990s was a country in turmoil. Not since its years of living dangerously in the 1960s had this unwieldy nation of more than 200 million people been so close to outright revolution. Following the fall of its ageing dictator, the collapse of its economy and a string of environmental disasters (seen by some as prophetic), Indonesia found itself catapulted towards a new and uncertain future. With its social fabric rent by profound regional and ethnic tensions, this volatile and influential country teetered on the brink.
