East Timor's Unfinished Struggle

East Timor's Unfinished Struggle
Author: Constâncio Pinto
Publisher: South End Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 1997
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780896085411

Until the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to two East Timorese activists, few had heard of East Timor or of its struggle for independence from Indonesia. Here, Constancio Pinto, a colleague of the two Nobel Peace Prize winners, and Matthew Jardine, a long-time chronicler of the situation in East Timor, offer a first-hand account of life inside the Timorese independence movement.

A Not-so-distant Horror

A Not-so-distant Horror
Author: Joseph Nevins
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2005
Genre: East Timor
ISBN: 9780801489846

In his view, much if not all of the horror that plagued East Timor in 1999 and in the 24 preceding years could have been avoided had countries like Australia, Japan, the United Kingdom, and especially the United States, not provided Indonesia with valuable political, economic, and military assistance, as well as diplomatic cover.

Funu

Funu
Author: José Ramos-Horta
Publisher: The Red Sea Press
Total Pages: 228
Release: 1987
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780932415158

First published in 1986, this is a re-issue of 1996 Nobel Peace Price winner Jose Ramos-Horta's book on the struggles in East Timor and the world's indifference to them. With a preface by Noam Chomsky.

Political Continuity and Conflict in East Timor

Political Continuity and Conflict in East Timor
Author: Ruth Nuttall
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 197
Release: 2021-06-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000381048

This book examines the history of political continuity and conflict in East Timor between 1974 and 2006, and the origins of an unexpected crisis in 2006 which caused an international military intervention and several more years of UN missions. Providing a fresh and empirical political history to explain the crisis, the book offers new dimensions to the understanding of East Timor, its independence struggles, political transition and politics after independence in 2002. The author revisits historical materials and brings to light new resources, making extensive use of the 2005 Report of the Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation and contemporary diplomatic, UN and news media reports, to provide a precise context and chronology for the events in 2006. The book provides an analysis within which factors such as ethnic and inter-communal violence, security sector weaknesses and conflict between the army and police, the constitution and legal system, state-building and peace-building can be located in the larger context of the 2006 crisis. Demonstrating how and why, in the space of four weeks in April and May 2006, the newly independent country of Timor-Leste plunged from ‘UN success story’ into catastrophe, this book will be of interest to academics working on Southeast Asian Politics, Southeast Asian history, Development Studies and Nation-, State- and Peace-Building and International Relations.

Momentum and the East Timor Independence Movement

Momentum and the East Timor Independence Movement
Author: Shane Gunderson
Publisher: Lexington Books
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2015-03-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1498502350

Momentum and the East Timor Independence Movement: The Origins of America’s Debate on East Timor examines the campaigns by people in the United States on behalf of those seeking peace for East Timor. The diplomatic work of voluntary advisors and supporters living in the United States in the early years of the movement have not been thoroughly explored until now. Through in-depth interviews with twenty activists and intellectuals involved in the East Timor movement from 1975-1999 and qualitative data analysis on information obtained from these interviews, this book explores “momentum” and “turning points” as perceptions in the minds of individual movement actors. The author takes readers through a combination of historical events that shaped social movement actors' attitudes and started a social movement momentum sequence in 1995. The East Timor All Inclusive Dialogue, the Timorization of Indonesia, the public outcries, organizational evolution, and a number of other turning points in the movement represented a series of successes that led to East Timor's independence.

Peace Operations

Peace Operations
Author: Paul F. Diehl
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 223
Release: 2013-08-26
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0745656250

Peacekeeping has gradually evolved to encompass a broad range of different conflict management missions and techniques, which are incorporated under the term "peace operations." Well over 100 missions have been deployed, the vast majority within the last twenty years. This book provides an overview of the central issues surrounding the development, operation, and effectiveness of peace operations. Among many features, the book: Traces the historical development of peace operations from their origins in the early 20th century through the development of modern peacebuilding missions. Tracks changes over time in the size, mission, and organization of peace operations. Analyses different organizational, financial, and troop provisions for peace operations, as well as assessing alternatives. Lays out criteria for evaluating peace operations and details the conditions under which such operations are successful. As peace operations become the primary mechanism of conflict management used by the UN and regional organizations, understanding their problems and potential is essential for a more secure world. Drawing on a wide range of examples from those between Israel and her neighbors to more recent operations in Somalia and the Congo, this book brings together the body of scholarly research on peace operations to address those concerns. It will be an indispensable guide for students, practitioners and general readers wanting to broaden their knowledge of the possibilities and limits of peace operations today.

The 2006 Crisis in East Timor

The 2006 Crisis in East Timor
Author: Rebecca E. Engel
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2020-09-08
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0429956290

This book argues that the international community must share responsibility for contributing to the conditions that resulted in violent conflict in Timor-Leste, four years after it declared independence from Indonesia. Its failure to tailor interventions to Timor-Leste’s specific political economy and conflict dynamics distanced the state from its citizens and undermined its capacity to forge a political settlement founded on a robust social contract. At a time in which conflict-affected states are receiving unprecedented attention and peacekeeping operations and humanitarian emergencies are becoming increasingly complex, this book argues that radical changes are urgently required in the way the international community operates in these environments. The findings are rooted in an examination of the mechanisms used by international development actors in Timor-Leste between 1998 and 2006. In bringing together wide-ranging perspectives, the author shows that international actions cannot be separated from the local political and socio-economic context, demonstrating that interventions are never ‘apolitical’ and that peacebuilding must be intentional. Indeed, political settlements premised on a robust social contract should not be taken for granted anywhere. The impact of increasing disenfranchisement, mistrust in institutions and structural inequalities evident in the global North suggest that lessons from peacebuilding in Timor-Leste are relevant far beyond its shores. This book is essential for students and researchers in the fields of development studies, international political economy, peacebuilding and conflict resolution, and for practitioners and policymakers striving to advance peace.

Social Democracy in East Timor

Social Democracy in East Timor
Author: Rebecca Strating
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2015-10-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1317504232

Since the end of the Cold War, considerable scholarly debates have been devoted to the nature and scope of international state-building interventions in ‘fragile’, post-colonial states and their effectiveness in instituting democratic rule. By examining the construction of political institutions in East Timor, this book highlights the relationship between the social and political realms during these processes. Focusing on the roles of East Timorese leaders and civil society organisations during the independence movement, it analyses the effectiveness of democracy building in East Timor. It examines the processes of drafting the new constitution, establishing key political institutions (such as the electoral system), and articulating a new vision of citizenship and social justice. The book argues that East Timor offers a relatively successful case of democratic transition, enabled by a consistent set of goals and aspirations, grassroots political legitimacy and participation, and the development of a democratic civil nation. Offering a coherent argument for why democracy has been successful in East Timor and the roles of political leaders and civil society during democratic transition, this book will be of interest to those studying Southeast Asian Politics, International Politics, and Democracy.

Genocide and Resistance in Southeast Asia

Genocide and Resistance in Southeast Asia
Author: Ben Kiernan
Publisher: Transaction Publishers
Total Pages: 372
Release: 2008
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781412806695

Two modern cases of genocide and extermination began in Southeast Asia in the same year. Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, and Indonesian forces occupied East Timor from 1975 to 1999. This book examines the horrific consequences of Cambodian communist revolution and Indonesian anti-communist counterinsurgency. It also chronicles the two cases of indigenous resistance to genocide and extermination, the international cover-ups that obstructed documentation of these crimes, and efforts to hold the perpetrators legally accountable. The perpetrator regimes inflicted casualties in similar proportions. Each caused the deaths of about one-fifth of the population of the nation. Cambodia's mortality was approximately 1.7 million, and approximately 170,000 perished in East Timor. In both cases, most of the deaths occurred in the five-year period from 1975 to1980. In addition, Cambodia and East Timor not only shared the experience of genocide but also of civil war, international intervention, and UN conflict resolution. U.S. policymakers supported the invading Indonesians in Timor, as well as the indigenous Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Both regimes exterminated ethnic minorities, including local Chinese, as well as political dissidents. Yet the ideological fuel that ignited each conflagration was quite different. Jakarta pursued anti-communism; the Khmer Rouge were communists. In East Timor the major Indonesian goal was conquest. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge's goal was revolution. Maoist ideology influenced Pol Pot's regime, but it also influenced the East Timorese resistance to the Indonesia's occupiers. Genocide and Resistance in Southeast Asia is significant both for its historical documentation and for its contribution to the study of the politics and mechanisms of genocide. It is a fundamental contribution that will be read by historians, human rights activists, and genocide studies specialists.