Not everything in this world and the next is centered on the West. :-) We of the West would like to think so, however the Indonesian condition is based on far more complex issues of interpersonal identity, and the formation of a stable and coherent social framework capable of satisfying on the one hand an intrinsic urge to religiosity present within the Indonesian culture from it's very earliest beginnings, while integrating the various social and cultural traditions in a way that is both uniquely Indonesian, modern and flexible, while at the same time without the negative drawbacks on can so readily perceive of the West from the view of cultures native to the Far East.

To say that the adoption of 'Islamic Fundamentalism' in Indonesia is a response to the West's failure to deliver presupposes that the entire valueset of the Indonesian archipelago is based entirely on the whims of the West. Such a ridiculous statement can and should be rejected as any cursory reading of the history and culture (1) of the region shows otherwise.

At many times during Indonesia's long and often bitter struggle for independance from colonialism there have been communal insurgent tendencies. First you had the wars against the portugese, then the dutch, then the british, then the dutch, and then the dutch, and then more dutch, and now finally many years on, it's not the dutch or or the political colonialism they're fighting it's capitalism, greed, and perhaps most notably, globalization.

These are not nice words. Capitalism and greed are what killed their ancestors, enslaved them, and subjected them to brutality. Deeply ingrained in the Indonesian national consciousness are the signs of these things repeating, and the equally deeply rooted need to fight them.

The colonialism may now be economic, but the effects are much the same: blinding poverty, a draining of the national wealth, a corresponding brain drain, political isolation, exploitation, and foreign troops on their soil. The indonesians are not stupid and Geertz is either wrong or naive not to see that Islamic Fundamentalism represents the strongest and most resilient system of personal and social organisation which is most likely to resist the negative impacts of globalisation while providing a unifying banner. And of course it's going to upset the oppressors and those who write for them. That's kind of the point.

In a country with 99% muslim population which happens to be the largest Islamic country on the planet, it would be odd for it's people not to find it comforting to go back to basics. Regardless of what people across the sea may, or may not be doing.

(1) Source : Soetjipto, H., Karamoy, W. A., Wuryani, M. S., et al., "INDONESIA 1995 : AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK", Department of Information, Directorate of Foreign Information Services, Perum Percetakan Negara RI, 1994.