The emergence of an independent East Timor: national and regional challenges

Abstract

For a generation, the East Timorese independence struggle was ignored by Southeast Asian nations and by Australia. However, Indonesia's annexation never gained full international recognition, and with the failure to win the allegiance of the majority of the population and in the context of national political uncertainty, the crisis in the territory led to United Nations (U.N.) intervention. However, the U.N. mandate will be difficult to execute, given the material and political problems in the territory. Indonesia's record has already generated unprecedented domestic and international scrutiny of the role of the military. The contribution of Australian diplomacy and military power to the resolution of the East Timor issue has brought into question longstanding Australian regional policies. In the case of ASEAN, which had previously supported Indonesia on the issue, the East Timorese independence movement has also raised difficulties for the grouping