Terry Lacey

Indonesia is facing a long-term energy shortage that may well be worse than anybody envisions at the moment, and appears to be doing little to face the needs. Despite lip service to a green future, the latest long-range projections show growing dependence on coal, rising from 36.5 percent now, to 52 percent in 2025 and 86 percent by2050.

We have all heard of failed states, but in Indonesia we also have failed local government. A recent UNDP forum revealed an estimated 48 new local government units in Indonesia are spending 70 percent of their budget only on paying civil servants.

A delegation of Israelis was in Jakarta recently for a series of meetings aimed at garnering support for a negotiated two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The global Islamic financing industry has over US$1 trillion in assets. But the member states of WIEF account for 19 percent of the world s population and only 6 percent of its income.

President-elect Barack Obama faces a huge task to save what he can of the United States economy and start economic restructuring.

Unemployment in the US is 8.9 million, currently going up by half a million a month. Two million people could lose their homes.

There is no avoiding the impact of this series of financial and economic downturns and the associated stock market crashes and wild currency fluctuations.

The OIC should certainly be concerned at the rise in Islamaphobia. However the root causes of Islamaphobia are more fundamental.