International Intervention in East Timor

Abstract

Argues that the 1999 international military intervention in East Timor was strikingly different from the international intervention in Kosovo during the same year. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) intervened in Kosovo over the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's claim to sovereignty that NATO insisted it would continue to recognize. In contrast, although Indonesia's claim to sovereignty over East Timor was not recognized by the UN, the international community claimed Indonesia's consent was necessary for intervention. Attention is called to the extreme suffering of the people of East Timor during the years of non-intervention; Indonesia's resistance to any international security presence in East Timor; & Indonesian President B.J. Habibie's decision to allow the East Timorese to choose between autonomy within Indonesia or independence. The violence that erupted after the ballot prompted criticisms that Australia, the US, & the UN should have exerted more pressure on Indonesia to accept an international force to maintain security in East Timor. Further contrasts between the East Timor & Kosovo interventions are pointed out along with their implications for humanitarian interventions. J. Lindroth