Power And Political Culture In Suharto S Indonesia

This work provides a fresh understanding of politics under the New Order and is influence on the systems of power and political relations in today's Indonesia.

In the mid-1990s, the formerly pliant Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) was transformed into an active opposition party by Megawati Sukarnoputri (now President of Indonesia). The subsequent backlash from the Suharto regime ultimately led to its downfall.

After twenty-five years in power, President Suharto and his New Order government confront a crisis of renewal. The regime, which swept to power in the wake of a military putsch in 1965, has brought enduring stability and economic prosperity to the country, but has shown no inclination to pass the reins of power to the next generation. As a result, pressures for political change are building up. This book offers an informed and balanced analysis of Suharto's new order as it approaches a crucial political juncture. Indonesia's remarkable political stability has for the most part kept the country out of the headlines. Quietly, Indonesia has moved into a strong position just behind other fast-growing economies in the region. Employing widely applauded liberal economic reforms and granting more freedom to the private sector, the government has transformed Indonesia's commodity-dependent economy into a nascent regional industrial dynamo. But now, economic success is running up against domestic political uncertainties. The author reassesses the New Order's fiery origins and its military roots, and evaluates the considerable economic progress achieved under Suharto. He also analyses Suharto himself, a man whose low international profile and uncharismatic style have made him one of the least understood and most intriguing long-serving leaders.

This book responds to the critical need of policymakers, practitioners, and scholars for current research on Indonesia.

Even as Major General Suharto consolidated his power in the bloodletting of the mid-sixties, Freeport-McMoRan, the American transnational mining company, signed a contract with the new military regime, the first foreign company to do so. Today, in the isolated jungles of West Papua, a region that is increasingly restive under Indonesian rule, Freeport lays claim to the world's largest gold mine and one of its richest and most profitable copper mines. This volume is the first major analysis of the company's presence in Indonesia. It takes a close and detailed look at the changing nature of power relations between Freeport and Suharto, the Indonesian military, the traditional landowners (the Amungme and Kamoro), and environmental and human rights groups. It examines how and why an American company, despite such rigorous home-state laws, was able to operate in West Papua with impunity for nearly thirty years and adapt to, indeed thrive in, a business culture anchored in corruption, collusion, and nepotism.

This revised third edition provides an analysis of Suharto's New Order from its inception to the emergence of B.J. Habibie as President. The author reassesses the New Order's origins and its military roots and evaluates the considerable economic changes that have taken place since the 1960s. He examines Suharto's politics and, in a new chapter, the reasons behind the crisis and Suharto's fall.

These essays investigate institutionalized violence in New Order Indonesia and the ongoing legacy Suharto's dictatorship has conferred on the nation. The collection includes papers on East Timor, Aceh, Biak, the police, and the Indonesian military, among other topics.