This book explains the exceptional nature of the East Timor intervention of 1999, and deals with the background to the trusteeship role of the UN in building the new polity. All of these developments had an important impact on regional order, not least testing the ASEAN norm of 'non-interference'. Australian complicity in the Indonesian occupation of East Timor was a major factor in the persistence of Indonesian rule in the territory which was maintained for twenty-five years despite international censure and which required an unremitting campaign against the independence movement. This work reviews the reasons for that history of complicity, and explains the extraordinary change of policy that led ultimately to the occupation of the territory by the Australian-led INTERFET coalition.
This book explains the exceptional nature of the East Timor intervention of 1999, and deals with the background to the trusteeship role of the UN in building the new polity. All of these developments had an important impact on regional order, not least testing the ASEAN norm of 'non-interference'.Australian complicity in the Indonesian occupation o
Australia’s involvement in the liberation of East Timor in 1999 was the most decisive demonstration of Australian influence in the region since World War II and the largest military contribution since the Vietnam War. Australian diplomacy and leadership shaped the events that led to the birth of Asia’s newest nation. East Timor Intervention looks at the crisis through the prism of key participants and observers on the ground and abroad, including Indonesia’s martial law commander Kiki Syahnakri defending his record, the country’s first president Xanana Gusmão on the resolution and poise of Timor’s resistance fighters, Australia’s Chief of Defence Force Chris Barrie on cobbling the force together, commander of the International Force Peter Cosgrove on the operation, and key policy adviser Hugh White on Canberra’s policy contortions in the lead-up to the intervention. This impressive collection includes significant new perspectives on Southeast Asian security affairs and the role Australia can play in regional security and stability.
Available Open Access under CC-BY-NC licence. Examining how the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) has responded to external threats over the past 50 years, this book provides a compelling account of regional state actions and foreign policy in the face of potential sovereignty violation. The author draws on a large amount of previously unanalysed material, including declassified government documents and WikiLeaks cables, to examine four key cases since 1975. Taking into account state interests and the role of external powers, the author develops the ‘vanguard state theory’ to explain ASEAN state responses to sovereignty violation, which, it is argued, has universal applicability and explanatory power.
East Timor's violent transition to independence, which began early in 1999, presented the Australian Government with a significant foreign policy crisis. This crisis was not sudden, totally unexpected or ultimately threatening to Australia's survival. But the crisis consumed the attention of Australian leaders, saw significant national and international resources employed, and led to the largest operational deployment for the Australian Defence Force since the Vietnam War. This crisis also created a significant rupture in the hitherto carefully-managed relationships between Australia and its important neighbor, Indonesia. The events of September 1999 ultimately led to the birth of a new nation and the deaths of many people who might have otherwise expected to enjoy that independence. In this major study, David Connery examines how the Australian Government - at the political and bureaucratic levels - developed and managed national security policy in the face of this crisis. The events, and the policymaking processes that both led and followed, are reconstructed using sixty interviews with key participants. This study identifies certain characteristics of crisis policymaking in Australia that include a dominant executive, secrecy, external actors and complexity.
This book examines the development of Timor-Leste’s foreign policy since achieving political independence in 2002. It considers the influence of Timor-Leste’s historical experiences with foreign intervention on how the small, new state has pursued security. The book argues that efforts to secure the Timorese state have been motivated by a desire to reduce foreign intervention and dependence upon other actors within the international community. Timor-Leste’s desire for ‘real’ independence — characterized by the absence of foreign interference — permeates all spheres of its international political, cultural and economic relations and foreign policy discourse. Securing the state entails projecting a legitimate identity in the international community to protect and guarantee political recognition of sovereign status, an imperative that gives rise to Timor-Leste’s aspirational foreign policy. The book examines Timor-Leste’s key bilateral and multilateral diplomatic relations, its engagement with the global normative order, and its place within the changing Asia-Pacific region.
This book explains how history and traditions have shaped Timorese politics, as well as the role that Indonesia and ASEAN play for the country's future . It tries to understand a complex political system in which both traditional laws and contemporary politics are integrated, and examines the effects of Portuguese colonization, Indonesian neo-colonialism, United Nations missions, and electoral democracy. The volume also addresses broader issues such as the politics of modernization, the question of development, and youth education. The possibilities presented by the new president, Luo-Olo, as well as the upcoming parliamentary elections, make this project a timely contribution that confirms the vibrancy of East Timor's democratic process and bi-party political system.
In this collection, 17 leading scholars based in Solomon Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and China analyse key dimensions of the changing relationship between China and the Pacific Islands and explore the strategic, economic and diplomatic implications for regional actors. The China Alternative includes chapters on growing great power competition in the region, as well as the response to China’s rise by the US and its Western allies and the island countries themselves. Other chapters examine key dimensions of China’s Pacific engagement, including Beijing’s programs of aid and diplomacy, as well as the massive investments of the Belt and Road Initiative. The impact of China’s rivalry for recognition with Taiwan is examined, and several chapters analyse Chinese communities in the Pacific, and their relationships with local societies. The China Alternative provides ample material for informed judgements about the ability of island leaders to maintain their agency in the changing regional order, as well as other issues of significance to the peoples of the region. ‘China’s “discovery” of the diverse Pacific islands, intriguingly resonant of the era of European explorers, is impacting on this too-long-overlooked region through multiple currents that this important book guides us through.’ —Rowan Callick, Griffith University ‘The China Alternative is a must-read for all students and practitioners interested in understanding the new geopolitics of the Pacific. It assembles a stellar cast of Pacific scholars to deeply explore the impact of the changing role of China on the Pacific islands region. Significantly, it also puts the Pacific island states at the centre of this analysis by questioning the collective agency they might have in this rapidly evolving strategic context.’ —Greg Fry, The Australian National University
The Australian media has played a key role in debates over Australia's East Timor policy since the mid-1970s. - Introduced by the ABC's multi-awarding-winning reporter Chris Masters, this is the first book to analyse the interaction of newspapers, broadcasters, politicians, diplomats and the public during this turbulent period. - It provides a vivid insight into the key role of the media in this controversial issue. - Australia's foreign affairs policymakers decided to adopt a 'pragmatic' rather than 'principled' approach to East Timor - That policy unravelled over the subsequent quarter century, under constant pressure from public opinion, the media, and international disapproval. - In the long run, argues Rodney Tiffen, Australia's stance was neither pragmatic nor principled.
The terror campaign by pro-Indonesian armed groups before, during, and after East Timor's independence referendum in 1999 was a blatant challenge to the international community as many of the acts of murder, political intimidation, destruction, and mass deportation took place before the eyes of the world. Yet still the ultimate responsibility has been denied and obscured. Masters of Terror provides an authoritative analysis and documentation of the brutal operations carried out by the Indonesian army and its East Timorese allies. The authors carefully assemble detailed accounts of the actions of the major Indonesian officers and East Timorese militia commanders accused of gross human rights violations. This indispensable work explores a horrific frontal attack on democracy and calls for the establishment of an international tribunal for crimes against humanity in East Timor.
