Indonesia and small wars in Southeast Asia-Post WWII?

[MorganRJ]

Kevin,

Not quite sure what specifically you're interested, but here are a few ideas (I will caveat it by saying that information in English on terrorism and conflict in Indonesia is fairly disaggregated compared with that of most other conflict countries):

- The first go-to source is the International Crisis Group. They are viewed as one of the leading experts in Indonesia on conflict and terrorism.
- Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict by Jacques Bertrand
- The Second Front by Kevin Conboy - provides an interesting overview of the history of political Islam in Indonesia
- Political Islam and Violence in Indonesia by Zach Abuza - details the different groups and their relationship in the many small wars in Indonesia (Abuza's interpretation differs somewhat from Sidney Jones at the ICG and others here)
- Reformasi by Kevin O'Rourke - good overview of politics in Indonesia post-Soeharto

Keep in mind when you are reading all of these that interpretations of the relationship between "small wars" and the larger war (as Kilcullen conceives it) differs greatly among experts in Indonesia and outside.

Hope this helps!

[davidbfpo]

Kevin23,

There are a handful of books on 'The Confrontation' between Indonesia and Malaysia - later backed up by her allies (UK, Aus & NZ). I cannot recall anything on this conflict from the Indonesian side, although it may appear in the US military journals.

Secondly, the current conflicts / insurgencies faced by Indonesia tend to be watched rather closely by the Australians, partly as the Australian Federal Police (AFP) are very active in the region. I suggest adding Leah's blog to your list:http://allthingsct.wordpress.com/

The East Timor conflict was well recorded, again mainly by the Australians, with a few articles in the UK, e.g. RUSI Journal, although the focus was on the UN involvement.

Hope that helps.

[GI Zhou]

This is as agood a reference for Australai's involvement in Konfrotasi.

IAN MCNEILL. Series: OFFICIAL HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA'S INVOLVEMENT IN SOUTHEAST ASIAN CONFLICTS 1948-1975.

Secondly I have interviewed the Sarawak People's Guerilla's and have published the results if you are interested.

[JeffWolf]

If anybody could please forward information regarding the military archives in London with respect to British involvement in Indonesia immediately following WW II, I would be most grateful.

Thanks
Jeff

[Pete]

Portrait of a Cold Warrior by Joseph B. Smith, a former CIA man, has some information on the 1950s-60s.

[davidbfpo]

If anybody could please forward information regarding the military archives in London with respect to British involvement in Indonesia immediately following WW II, I would be most grateful.

Thanks
Jeff

Jeff,

The UK military archives is not my subject and so these comments are that. Some military records are at the National Army Museum, in London (mainly military journals); the political and government papers are the old Public Records Office, now renamed the National Archives, at Kew, London and depending what you are looking for in other places, e.g. university library special holdings, with general's personal papers.

I know General Gracey and his Indian division left Saigon for Indonesia. In some reading the fighting around the port city, Surabaya was described as very hard.

Do the Official History series cover post-VJ activity?

There maybe items in the Imperial War Museum, London and the RAF / RN museums.

Are there any historians who specialise in this period?

[JeffWolf]

This

http://www.amazon.com/British-Occupa...9058975&sr=8-2

appears to be spot-on for what I'm looking for; perhaps others may find it interesting and/or useful, too.

Incidentally, Pete23 and others, I hate to sink to such a low common denominator but the Wikipedia page on Indonesia's "konfrontasi" or "confrontation" with Malaysia seems fairly comprehensive with respect to its bibliography.

Also, I've read a fair amount of this - http://www.amazon.com/Indonesias-War...9059864&sr=8-2 - and first, I'm guessing that it's the best English-language source on the topic, and second, it seems a good example of open source intelligence, for those who are interested in the topic.

Thanks
Jeff

[GI Zhou]

This

http://www.amazon.com/British-Occupa...9058975&sr=8-2

appears to be spot-on for what I'm looking for; perhaps others may find it interesting and/or useful, too.

Incidentally, Pete23 and others, I hate to sink to such a low common denominator but the Wikipedia page on Indonesia's "konfrontasi" or "confrontation" with Malaysia seems fairly comprehensive with respect to its bibliography.

Also, I've read a fair amount of this - http://www.amazon.com/Indonesias-War...9059864&sr=8-2 - and first, I'm guessing that it's the best English-language source on the topic, and second, it seems a good example of open source intelligence, for those who are interested in the topic.

Thanks
Jeff

If you get to Kuching Sarawak visit the Police Museum on the island off China town as it has some excellent arifacts. if you contact me I can send you some material on Indonesia arming 'Communist' guerrillas in Sarawak. They were more freedom fighters in my opinion and I am no supporter of Communism.