Barack Obama, the US president, has arrived in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, for the second stop on his 10-day Asia trip. During his much-delayed homecoming of sorts to Indonesia on Tuesday, Obama will seek to engage Muslims and cement strategic relations.

Jakarta regards Mr. Obama as a local boy made good, and he remains extremely popular throughout Indonesia. But his last-minute postponements of three previously planned visits here have clearly sapped the enthusiasm surrounding his homecoming, even among his most ardent supporters.

In June 2009, addressing a packed audience at Cairo University, US President Barack Obama offered Muslims "a new beginning" based on "mutual interest and mutual respect". The speech was well received. The president was riding a wave of goodwill.

It would seem curious if an Indonesian president made an official visit to the United States with the object of engaging with the Christian world rather than with a superpower that separates God and government. So do not expect President Obama to use his visit to the predominantly Muslim land of his boyhood to engage with the wider Muslim community.

When President Barack Obama visits Indonesia this month (November 9-10), he is expected to recognize the work of Peace Corps volunteers as a model for cultural and educational exchanges between the United States and the largest Muslim majority country.

As Mount Merapi continues to erupt, cigarette companies sponsor rescue efforts...Known here as “corporate social responsibility” efforts, the disaster relief teams aim to augment efforts by a stretched Indonesian government to house, clothe and feed evacuees from the volcano.

President Obama will visit one of the world’s largest mosques and deliver a major address to the people of Indonesia when he visits that island nation next month, in a long-delayed trip that White House officials say will mix childhood reflections with outreach to the Muslim world.