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

Running head: HISTORY
History
Name of the Student
Name of the University
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