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Opinion

Steady progress will soon eclipse Indonesia's invisible-nation status

Rising global power set to become pivotal force in shaping Indo-Pacific order

| Indonesia
Jokowi has sought to make economic growth more inclusive.   © Reuters

Richard Heydarian is an Asia-based academic, columnist and author of "The Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Elite Democracy" and the "The Indo-Pacific: Trump, China and the New Struggle for Global Mastery."

When India's then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was asked in the 1950s why Southeast Asian nations were designated as Category C in his country's foreign policy, he reportedly replied: "Do you gentlemen wish to become friendly with Coca-Cola governments?"

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