The East Timor Question

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East Timor is one of the World's most infamous "trouble spots." Originally colonized by the Portuguese, it was brutally invaded and occupied by the Indonesian State military forces in 1975. Over the next year, according to the UN, about one third of the population died from massacres, starvation and disease. But recent events in Indonesia have given rise to expectations that there may be a fundamental shift in the State's position on East Timor. This book considers the potential for change against a backdrop of growing popular and political support for the Timorese cause. Addressing East Timor's recent emergence as an issue of global importance, it illustrates how local, grassroots, individual, organizational and campaign initiatives have contributed to this state of affairs, in the context of the increased emphasis which is being placed on ethics, international morality and human rights in contemporary international relations.