Introduction: Soeharto’s New Order and its Legacy

On 21 May 1998, one of the most effective and enduring of the world’s Cold War military-based authoritarian regimes came to an end. On that morning, Indonesia’s President Soeharto read a simple statement announcing his resignation and handing over power to his deputy, B. J. Habibie. He did so against a dramatic backdrop: the Asian financial crisis had brought catastrophe, student protesters occupied the national parliament, the smoke was still rising from parts of Jakarta’s skyline after days of rioting a week earlier, the previous evening fourteen of his cabinet ministers had told Soeharto they were no longer willing to