Originally colonized by the Portuguese, East Timor was brutally invaded and occupied by Indonesian military forces in 1975. According to the UN, this resulted in the death of about a third of the population through massacres, starvation and disease. Subsequent events in Indonesia, however, have given rise to expectations of a fundamental change in its position on East Timor. Considering the potential for change against a backdrop of growing popular and political support for the Timorese cause, this book addresses its emergence as an issue of global importance. The authors set out to show how local, grassroots, individual, organizational and campaign initiatives have contributed to this state of affairs, in the context of an increased international-relations emphasis on ethics, international morality and human rights.

Consists of clippings, correspondence, photos and other documents gathered in the course of twenty years of reporting on East Timor by Australian journalist Jill Jolliffe.

The long-running dispute over East Timor was for many years an unresolved item on the agenda of the international community. It involved issues of self-determination, non-recognition, and human rights. This book was first published in 1996, five years before East Timor regained its independence. It thus serves as a record of the basic materials relating to the historical background, to the circumstances of the Indonesian invasion and following incorporation of East Timor, to the subsequent development of the dispute in the light of the international community's response to it, and, finally, to the 1995 judgment of the International Court of Justice in the case concerning East Timor between Portugal and Australia. The volume contains a substantive introduction which places the documents in context and provides an overview of the political and legal issues of the dispute.

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.

An analysis of the present situation in East Timor which advocates a policy of self-determination for the country and urges intervention by the United Nations whose previous resolutions have been ignored by the occupying Indonesians.

In a rapidly changing post-Cost War world, where many age-old conflicts and injustices are at last being put to rights, East Timor stands out as a still unresolved tragedy. In the past twenty years (1975–95), this former Portuguese colony has been under Indonesian military occupation, an occupation responsible for the death of over 200,000 of its inhabitants (a third of its pre-1975 population) and the destruction of much of its indigenous society. Yet, despite enormous odds, the people of East Timor continue to fight for the independence which was denied them in the mid-1970s. Twenty years on, there is now a very real chance for a new beginning in East Timor. This book, which brings together contributions by both East Timorese and Western specialists of East Timor, provides a compelling account of the process by which a once isolated and traditional society has been forged into a nation with a deep sense of its own identity rooted it its unique religious, cultural, linguistic, and historical heritage. Indonesia is at last beginning to realize the cost of Third World colonialism, and its Western allies are becoming less tolerant of its ‘security state’ methods. The last section of this book considers the new diplomatic initiatives which are currently in train, under the auspices of the UN, to bring about a resolution to the Timor problem without jeopardizing the integrity of the Indonesian Republic. An extensive bibliography of titles on East Timor published between 1970 and 1994 will prove especially useful for scholars.

By the end of the 1960s the process of decolonization had practically run its course in Southeast Asia. One exception, however, was tiny Portuguese Timor, where notions of self-determination and independence had yet to be generated. In 1974, the Carnation Revolution in Portugal brought about the end of fifty years of dictatorship, and halfway around the world, presented a new opportunity to a small, ambitious proportion of the Timorese population, eager to shape the future of their country. This book presents a compelling and original perspective on the critical period of 1974-1975 in the history of East Timor. It describes how the language of politics helped to shape the events that brought about the decolonization of Portuguese Timor, its brief independence as The Democratic Republic of East Timor, and its recolonization by an Asian neighbour. Further, it challenges the idea that this period of history was infused by the spirit of nationalism in which the majority Timorese partook, and which contended with other competing western –isms, including colonialism, communism, neo-colonialism, and fascism. In contrast, the book argues that the Timorese majority had little understanding of any of these alien political abstractions and that the period can be most effectively explained and understood in terms of the contrast between the political culture of Dili, the capital, and the political culture of the rest of the country. In turn, David Hicks highlights how the period of 1974-1975 can offer lessons to government and international policy-makers alike who are trying to bring about a transformation in governance from the traditional to the legal and convert individuals from peasants to citizens. The result of extensive fieldwork and interviews, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Southeast Asian studies, international relations, post-conflict studies and post-colonial studies.

East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, located at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. East Timor was among the last of colonial territories to become independent, and it actually had to be liberated twice. First, after more than four centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, it achieved independence in 1975 only to be invaded and occupied by Indonesia. After a blood-soaked occupation of 24 years and following intense international pressure, the Jakarta-regime only grudgingly allowed East Timor to form a nation of its own in 1999. Since then, the new state has faced further armed clashes and is only now able to seriously engage in nation-building. Historical Dictionary of East Timor relates the turbulent history of this country through a chronology, an introductory essay, an expansive bibliography, and over 200 cross-referenced dictionary entries on significant persons, events, places, organizations, and other aspects of East Timor history from the earliest times to the present.