It takes a serious crisis to reveal a country’s fundamental strengths and vulnerabilities. As in all countries, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and 2021 has severely tested all aspects of Indonesia: its governance, institutions, polity, economic resilience, health system, societal cohesion, its vulnerable communities and international relationships.

Most important, the country has held together, and the administrative and political apparatus has continued to function despite deep economic and social stresses. This is in notable contrast to the country’s last major crisis, 1997-98, which paralysed the government, resulted in nasty ethnic conflicts, and triggered the collapse of the Suharto regime.