Online Extra: Yudhoyono's "Triple-Track Strategy"

Last October, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono took control of the world's most populous Islamic nation -- and one that has had its share of challenges. The Dec. 26 tsunami took roughly 128,000 Indonesian lives in Aceh Provinces and other sections of Northern Sumatra Island. This sprawling archipelago of 224 million has also been a staging ground for al Qaeda-inspired terrorist attacks, including the bombing of a Bali nightclub in 2002. There's also the ongoing problem of separatist groups in Aceh and elsewhere.

Yet for the first time in years Indonesia has reason for some optimism. Since winning the country's first direct-election presidential campaign in September, Yudhoyono has won international praise for his crisis-management following the tsunami and his efforts to fight terrorism and the corruption that's rampant in Indonesia's political and business circles.