From a riverside shack to the presidential palace, Joko Widodo surged to the top of Indonesian politics on a wave of hope for change. However, six years into his presidency, he is struggling to deliver the reforms that Indonesia desperately needs. Despite promising to build Indonesia into an Asian powerhouse, Jokowi, as he is known, has been challenged by regular crisis, from COVID-19 to an Islamist mass movement. How does Indonesia balance the competing demands of democracy and authoritarianism, openness and protectionism, Islam and pluralism?

Guest: Ben Bland (Author of Man of Contradictions, Director of the Southeast Asia Program at the Lowy Institute).

Recorded 13 October 2020.