Sumanto Al Qurtuby is Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Department of Global & Social Studies, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Saudi Arabia, and Director of Nusantara Institute on Culture and Religion. Previously he was Visiting Senior Research Fellow in the Middle East Institute of National University of Singapore, and Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame, the United States. Sumanto’s research interests focus on the study of Muslim politics and cultures; conflict, violence, and peacebuilding; inter-and intra-religious relations, the role of religion in public sphere, and Arab Middle East–Southeast Asian/Indonesian connection. Sumanto, who obtained a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from Boston University and an MA in Conflict Transformation from Eastern Mennonite University, has been awarded research grants and fellowships from numerous foundations and academic institutions, and is the author of dozens of scholarly articles and books, including Saudi Arabia and Indonesian Networks: Migration, Education and Islam (I.B. Tauris, 2019) and Religious Violence and Conciliation in Indonesia: Christians and Muslims in the Moluccas (Routledge, 2016). His academic articles have appeared in International Journal of Asian Studies, Asian Journal of Social Science, Southeast Asian Studies, Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, and Asian Perspective, among others.
King Salman’s Historic Visit to Indonesia: Mirror of a Changing Saudi Arabia
This article examines the outcome and implications of King Salman’s historic trip to Indonesia in March 2017 — the first such visit by a Saudi monarch since King Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1906–1975) met with President Suharto in 1970 in Jakarta. The article first provides a brief overview of the bilateral relationship. Next, it considers the extent to which King Salman’s visit succeeded in strengthening diplomatic ties and boosting economic cooperation. The article then examines the visit through the lens of some of the socio-cultural and religious changes that have been taking place in the Kingdom in recent years, which could help dispel some of the negative images of Saudi Arabia held by many Indonesians.
Sectarian Conflict and Grassroots Peacebuilding in Central Java
Religiously-inspired anti-pluralist actions, vigilante attacks, Islamist extremism, and terrorism—as well as a spectrum of ethnically, regionally, and religiously-based civilian groupings and paramilitary bands—have figured in Indonesian politics since the downfall of Suharto’s New Order dictatorial regime in 1998. However, not all areas of the country have experienced sectarian violence. Not all Indonesian Muslims are fanatics or zealots, nor are Muslim radicals the only agents of conflict. On the contrary, there are many instructive and inspiring examples across contemporary Indonesia of local leaders and communities that have produced and sustained religious harmony.
