Recent scenes from Indonesia have gripped international headlines. Massive youth protests provoked by economic austerity and parliamentary privileges erupted across the country. Yet with rare exceptions such as these protests, the archipelago nation of nearly 300 million people tends to be a distant consideration, even for much of the international left.

This was not always the case. Half a century ago, Indonesia was central to global geopolitics. From internationalists enamored with the “Bandung Spirit” to Western agents bent on subverting Indonesian sovereignty, there was no doubt about the country’s importance on the global stage.

Indonesian president Sukarno’s 1955 Konferensi Asia–Afrika, hosted in Bandung, propelled an anti-colonial ethos onto the world stage that captured the imagination of a generation. A decade later, following a series of shadowy events beginning on September 30, 1965, General Suharto seized power in a US-backed coup. Suharto ousted Sukarno, drowned Indonesia in blood, and transformed the country into a compliant ally of the United States.