Indonesia Will Go On

Although the country has many problems, we may be optimistic that Indonesia will survive through 2030 and even through 2045 to witness a century of our nation’s independence.

Can Indonesia survive until 2030? Ghost Fleet, a novel by FW Singer and August Cole, predicts that Indonesia would be a mere name in 2030. This wild imagining turned into controversy when Gerindra Party chairman Prabowo Subianto cited it. Although Prabowo might have intended to call on Indonesian leaders and citizens to think about the possibility (of disintegration), it is unavoidable that the statement triggered anxiety in public. It triggered a politics of fear.

Prabowo’s statement underlines pessimism among the citizenry whether Indonesia could survive the variety of political, economic and sociocultural problems it faces. As a large country – not only in terms of size or population – it is only normal that it has problems.

However, pessimism and the politics of fear about Indonesia’s possible disintegration could multiply fear.