Ethnic conflict and terrorism in Indonesia : A case study of West Java

Abstract

Indonesia entered the reform era after the fall of New Order government in 1998. This era was marked by economic and social-political crisis and unprecedented ethnic conflict. Riots and social unrests erupted in many part of the archipelago and caused numerous deaths, displacements, destruction of public and private properties. These ethnical and religious overtones suggested serious tensions cutting across several dimensions of relations between Indonesia's ethnic groups. Between 1997 and 2002, at least 10,000 were killed during ethnic violence throughout Indonesia. The reform era was also marked by the increased number of terrorists attack in several parts of Indonesia by making terrorism as the most serious security problem. Several bomb explosions since the fall of New Order government until the latest major bomb blast in Bali in October 2005, demonstrated that terrorism is becoming a continuous threat to Indonesians. The police investigation and media reports on previous terrorist attacks suggested that some of the terrorists are Sundanese, the inhabitant of parts of West Java province. This research will analyze contributing factors to the emergence of terrorism in this province.