Unexpected Promise

Aceh—For centuries, this territory at the northern tip of Sumatra was at the crossroads of several of the world’s major cultures and trade routes, leading some to say that Aceh really stands for Arabia-China-Europe-Hindustan. It was there that Islam was first introduced to the vast Indonesian archipelago in the 8th century. Later, an independent sultanate emerged that lasted for some five centuries.

Open to foreign influences, the Acehnese have nonetheless been fiercely independent-minded. This was as true when a Portuguese fleet was defeated in 1614 as it was during Dutch efforts to impose colonial rule between 1873 and 1942. After World War II, Aceh became part of Indonesia. But excessive centralization and unjust exploitation of its resources by Jakarta led to the founding of the separatist Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM, or Free Aceh Movement) in 1976.Although the initial rebellion was quickly crushed, atrocities committed by government troops fueled resentment among the Acehnese and ensured a prolonged struggle.During the 1990s and again in 2003, the province was put under martial law.

It took the enormous devastation of the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26, 2004, to break Aceh’s punitive isolation. In a matter of mere minutes, close to 170,000 people perished—more than ten times as many as had been killed during the 29 years of secessionist conflict. Against the wishes of military hardliners, newly elected Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono accepted international emergency assistance. An intense global spotlight was trained on Aceh as foreign aid workers...