ABSTRACT
As a result of increased global flow of goods, people, images, technology and information, especially from more prominent countries to the rest of the world, imagined boundaries of national cultures have become more permeable than ever. As shown in the latest Asian economic crisis, the global expansion of economic activities has had a significant yet different impact on the internal condition of nation-states – depending on the ways the political regimes that govern the respective nation-states respond to the crisis. In the case of Indonesia, the 1997–1998 financial crisis led to the downfall of the Soeharto regime, followed by prolonged social unrest that threatened national unity.
