Few Poorly Organized Men

Despite no prior history of recent unrest, Poso, from 1998-2007, became the site of the most protracted inter-religious conflict in postauthoritarian Indonesia, as well as one of the most important theatres of operations for the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network. Nine years of violent conflict between Christians and Muslims in Poso elevated a previously little known district in eastern Indonesia to national and global prominence. Drawing on a decade of research, for the most part conducted while the conflict was ongoing, this book provides the first comprehensive history of this violence. It also addresses the puzzle of why the Poso conflict was able to persist for so long in an increasingly, stable democratic state, despite the manifest weaknesses of the small groups of men driving the violence.