The Break-up of Indonesia: Nationalisms after Decolonisation and the Limits of the Nation-State in Post-Cold War Southeast Asia

This article discusses the downfall of Indonesia as a nation-state due to the political crisis and the rising of secessionist movements in different parts of the country. It also talks about the impacts of decolonization and the Cold War on Indonesia.

Running head: HISTORY
History
Name of the Student
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Author Note

1HISTORY
The article to be summarized here is the “The break-up of Indonesia? Nationalisms after
decolonisation and the limits of the nation-state in post-Cold War Southeast Asia”. The article
has been written by Edward Aspinali and Mark T. Berger.1 This article is written basically in the
qualitative manner. The main point described in this article is the downfall of the Indonesia as a
nation-state due to the political crisis. The predecessor of this event was the Asian financial
crisis in the year 1997. There are many angles of viewing this downfall or the financial crisis.
One of these viewpoints is the rising of secessionist movements in the different parts of
the country. This movement had been made stronger and this began the downfall of Indonesia.
The proponents of this movement were regarded as the legends in the colonial era of the Dutch
power. The overall boundary of the country became questionable during this movement. So the
situation began to worsen. The fall of the Suharto government in Indonesia marked the beginning
of all these issues.2 These three regions are East Timor, Irian Jaya and Aceh. According to the
authors of the article, the first region described is East Timor.3 This region had already been
snatched from the boundaries of Indonesia. President Suharto had drafted his resignation in the
month of May on 1998.4 Thereafter, the hold of the supporters of the secessionist movements had
began to grow. The efforts of the Suharto government had been there to build up the nation.
However, the efforts of secessionist movements were the countered against the steps taken by the
Suharto government.
1 Aspinall, Edward, and Mark T. Berger. "The break-up of Indonesia? Nationalisms after decolonisation and the
limits of the nation-state in post-cold war Southeast Asia." Third World Quarterly 22, no. 6 (2001): 1003-1024
2 Luttikhuis, Bart, and A. Dirk Moses, eds. Colonial Counterinsurgency and Mass Violence: The Dutch Empire in
Indonesia. Routledge, 2018
3 Strating, R. (2014). Contested self-determination: Indonesia and East Timor's battle over borders, international law
and ethnic identity. The Journal of Pacific History, 49(4), 469-494.
4 Aspinall, Edward, and Mark T. Berger. "The break-up of Indonesia? Nationalisms after decolonisation and the
limits of the nation-state in post-cold war Southeast Asia." Third World Quarterly 22, no. 6 (2001): 1003-1024

2HISTORY
The violence in the state had increased a lot and people in the country suffered from
brutal attacks one after one. The notable thing in this scenario is the fact that the country had felt
the hard impacts of the decolonization. Apart from that the global affairs like Cold War had also
left its impacts in Indonesia as well.5 According to some critics, this venue portrayed the cultural
diversity within the geographic archipelago of Indonesia.6 Numerous people from several ethnic
cultures were the parts of Indonesia and this was the best part of the harmonious living of the
people. The resignation of President Suharto on 21st may in 1998 marked the commencement of
the bad days of the country. The region of East Timor was considered as an independent region
and was no longer a part of Indonesia.7 There were possibilities that the other two regions like
Irian Jaya and Aceh could be independent as well. After this type of humdrum and political
violence in the region, provinces like Bali and Riau demanded that they also wished to be set free
and become independent provinces.8
The situation in Indonesia became quite critical after President Suharto did not continue
his reign. In the first decade of the 20th century, Many political viewpoints began to bloom in the
country like liberalism, nationalism, socialism and communism. Many traditional ideas within
the region had been mixed with the Islamic ideas well. Therefore, this worked as a melting pot
for different types of cultures within the country. Political parties like Islamic League had been
formed in the year 1912.9 It was influenced by the Islamic ideas. Afterwards, the Communist
Party of Indonesia had also been formed in 1914 as well. Many nationalist movements had begun
5 Luttikhuis, Bart, and A. Dirk Moses, eds. Colonial Counterinsurgency and Mass Violence: The Dutch Empire in
Indonesia. Routledge, 2018
6 Kusno, Abidin. Behind the postcolonial: Architecture, urban space and political cultures in Indonesia. Routledge,
2014.
7 Strating, R. (2014). Contested self-determination: Indonesia and East Timor's battle over borders, international law
and ethnic identity. The Journal of Pacific History, 49(4), 469-494.
8 Aspinall, Edward, and Mark T. Berger. "The break-up of Indonesia? Nationalisms after decolonisation and the
limits of the nation-state in post-cold war Southeast Asia." Third World Quarterly 22, no. 6 (2001): 1003-1024
9 Aspinall, Edward, and Mark T. Berger. "The break-up of Indonesia? Nationalisms after decolonisation and the
limits of the nation-state in post-cold war Southeast Asia." Third World Quarterly 22, no. 6 (2001): 1003-1024

3HISTORY
to grow in this region. Therefore, the urge came from people within the country that they wanted
to be set free from all kinds of colonial oppression. The purpose of the Dutch colonial state was
to suppress the nationalist movements by the political organizations.10
Few years later, the situation became different and the New Order was completely
destroyed. Indonesia as a nation-state was getting deconstructed completely. The main reason for
the deconstruction of the nation state of Indonesia is their differences in the political structure.
The New Order of Indonesia could not make the political situation correct in the country.11 The
authors have again drawn upon from the literature that the overall political structure of the
country was not at all very much helpful for the global purpose. The country faced the evil
impacts of the Asian financial crisis well enough and this was accompanied by their financial
crisis as well.
In the concluding section, it can be said that the political crisis in Indonesia had
completely been an outcome of the problems in framing the political structures. The political
problems began to grow and this resulted in the nationalist movements within the country. The
nation-state of Indonesia had faced several after the resignation of President Suharto. The
political crisis gave rise to the economic problems as well. The Asian financial crisis followed
this event. The impact of the Cold War was felt in Indonesia during those times as well.
10 Aspinall, Edward, and Mark T. Berger. "The break-up of Indonesia? Nationalisms after decolonisation and the
limits of the nation-state in post-cold war Southeast Asia." Third World Quarterly 22, no. 6 (2001): 1003-1024
11 Kusno, Abidin. Behind the postcolonial: Architecture, urban space and political cultures in Indonesia. Routledge,
2014.

4HISTORY
Reference List
Aspinall, Edward, and Mark T. Berger. "The break-up of Indonesia? Nationalisms after
decolonisation and the limits of the nation-state in post-cold war Southeast Asia." Third World
Quarterly 22, no. 6 (2001): 1003-1024.
Kusno, Abidin. Behind the postcolonial: Architecture, urban space and political cultures in
Indonesia. Routledge, 2014.
Luttikhuis, Bart, and A. Dirk Moses, eds. Colonial Counterinsurgency and Mass Violence: The
Dutch Empire in Indonesia. Routledge, 2018.
Strating, R. (2014). Contested self-determination: Indonesia and East Timor's battle over borders,
international law and ethnic identity. The Journal of Pacific History, 49(4), 469-494.