Liberal and illiberal peace-building in East Timor and Papua: establishing order in a democratising state

Abstract

States undergoing turbulent processes of democratisation frequently use illiberal peacebuilding methods to manage civil wars, as it enables them to secure order with the lowest risk. However, the existing literature on illiberal peace-building does not explain why governments sometimes opt for more liberal means, despite the risks involved. To explore this question, the paper draws on original primary sources and secondary evidence to compare the Indonesian government's management of two civil wars during democratisation. The Papua and East Timor cases constitute an ideal comparative case study as the government took starkly different approaches to managing conflict in each region, within the same period. While East Timor was resolved via liberal methods, the Papua conflict was managed via illiberal means. I argue that two dimensions need greater recognition and interrogation within the existing illiberal peace-building framework to explain this difference: first, the role of shifting internal power balances within national political elites, especially civilian-military relations and the relative power of moderates; and, second, the influence of external actors on these internal power balances.

Politik Hoaks dan Hoaks Politik di Indonesia

“…Karakteristik illiberal ini meresap dalam penyelesaian konflik dan pembangunan perdamaian di Indonesia (Wilson, 2020). Sebuah pilihan penyelesaian konflik dalam kerangka illiberal tidak terlepas pula dari meta-aturan kontestasi elit dan tawar-menawar dalam negara untuk mendistribusikan kekuasaan dan bea (Smith et al, 2020) dan memfokuskan upaya untuk menciptakan stabilitas politik tanpa menawarkan resolusi konflik yang dapat dinegoisasikan antara pihak-pihak yang terlibat (Smith, 2020). Imajinasi mengenai stabilitas politik, konsolidasi demokratik, dan pertumbuhan ekonomi ini meski jarang menjadi penyebab langsung kekerasan komunal, ketika bertepatan dengan momentum perselisihan antar-kelompok, tiga faktor ini menambahi daya letusnya (Wilson, 2015).…”

Conflict Analysis and Papuan Policies from a Social, Economic and National Defense Perspective

“…After the failure of Papua's division, the existence of the provinces of West Irian Jaya and Central Irian Jaya became uncertain, even though their governors had been inaugurated on October 12, 1999. The numerous flaws with substantive coalitions made this failure worse (Smith, 2020). In the same month, a General Session of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) was held in Jakarta.…”

Legal Political Policy In Resolving The Papua Conflict

“…consistent policy choice used by the government in the reform era since the implementation of a new approach to Papua (Smith, 2020). The choice of special autonomy for Papua began to be a discourse since President Habibie started the reform era in 1999 (Zamjani, 2022), but it was only two years later that it was determined to be a legal political policy (Crawley & Hagen-Zanker, 2019), namely with the issuance of the Papua Special Autonomy Law during the reign of President Megawati Soekarno Putri (Abdurahman & Dewansyah, 2019).…”