2 kinds of diplomacy for Indonesia, Pakistan

When Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Indonesia earlier this year, she said: "If you want to know whether Islam, democracy, modernity and women's rights can coexist, come to Indonesia."

When she visited Pakistan recently, she was polite but much more critical in her words, basically accusing some government officials of sheltering Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists.

Indonesia and Pakistan, two non-Arab states, between them account for about a quarter of the world's Muslim populace; Indonesia 205 million; Pakistan 174 million.

If democracy flourishes in such non-Arab countries as these, it could have an influence on democracy's progress in other Muslim, but Arab, lands.

American diplomacy to Indonesia and Pakistan is nuanced quite differently to each of them.

In the case of Indonesia, the tenor is dictated more by Indonesia than the United States. In the era of Sukarno, the nation's first president after independence from the Dutch, Indonesia moved far to the left and coziness with communist China. An abortive communist coup and a horrifying purge that took upward of 200,000 lives left the Indonesian Communist Party decimated and a searing memory upon the nation's psyche. Indonesia moved back to the political center and amity with the West but was determined not to become, or be seen to become, the pawn of anyone.

U.S. administrations have been astute in understanding this and maintaining discreet relationships with successive Indonesian regimes. One particularly noteworthy humanitarian move took place in 2004, when the United States mounted a major relief operation after Indonesia was hit by a major tsunami. About 15,000 U.S. servicemen, operating from the carrier Abraham Lincoln, supported hundreds of helicopter flights carrying food, water and other aid to the victims.

After Sukarno, Indonesia had a disappointing three-decade rule by Gen. Suharto, during which the army remained vigilant and influential. In recent years, Indonesia has blossomed politically with free elections. This year, the popular President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was re-elected and appointed in October a cabinet of acceptable politicians.

Indonesia has effected this transformation by itself and has similarly itself pursued Islamist extremists who killed more than 200 people in a Bali bombing in 2002 and another bombing in Jakarta this year. Despite these events, Indonesia has been able to maintain its commitment to a more moderate version of Islam.

By contrast, U.S. diplomacy toward Pakistan has been more robust and intrusive. Different administrations have played politics with a series of Pakistani leaders as that country has drifted in and out of military rule with periods of unsettled democracy.