Confronting sukarno ; British, American, Australian and New Zealand diplomacy in the Malaysian-Indonesian Confrontation, 1961-65

Annotation Confronting Sukarno examines the regional and international implications of the Malaysian-Indonesian Confrontation, a crisis more popularly known as Konfrontasi. By doing so, fundamental themes concerning the Asian Cold War are discussed. In particular, the concern of western policy makers with an increasingly belligerent communist China, the importance of Konfrontasi to the war in Vietnam and the British 'role' east of Suez, are all examined in detail. Being a work of international history, the book draws extensively from recently de-classified documents in the United States, Britain, Australia and New Zealand John Subritzky's book analyses western cold war diplomacy in Southeast Asia during the early to mid-1960s. It does so from the perspective of Konfrontasi (Confrontation), a diplomatic and military crisis caused by Indonesia's violent opposition to the then stillborn Federation of Malaysia. In writing the book, the author has drawn extensively on recently declassified materials in Britain, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. Confronting Sukarno stresses both the regional and international implications of Konfrontasi. In western capitals, the crucial geo-strategic importance of Indonesia was widely recognized. If allied to the West, this huge country could become an effective barrier to Chinese communist domination of Asia. On the other hand, a communist Indonesia would completely undermine the American war effort in Vietnam. In addition, the Commonwealth countries regarded a stable and prosperous Malaysia as the only means by which Britain's historic role east of Suez could be preserved into the post-colonial era. As a result, the stakes for all powers involved in Konfrontasi was extremely high Front Matter....Pages i-xix Introduction....Pages 1-16 Southeast Asia and the End of Empire, 1961–3....Pages 17-40 Confrontation Begins, January-April 1963....Pages 41-55 Malaysia Established, May—September 1963....Pages 56-73 The ANZUS Understanding, October-December 1963....Pages 74-93 Two Conflicts — Borneo and Vietnam, January-July 1964....Pages 94-114 The Deepening Crisis, August-December 1964....Pages 115-136 Riding the Tiger, January-August 1965....Pages 137-161 Confrontation Ends, August 1965-January 1966....Pages 162-184 Conclusion: Konfrontasi and the Cold War in Southeast Asia, 1961–1965....Pages 185-203 Back Matter....Pages 204-246 Fundamental themes concerning the Asian Cold War are discussed as a result of this book's examination of the regional and international implications of the Malaysian-Indonesian Confrontation, more popularly known as Konfrontasi. In particular, the concern of western policy makers with an increasingly belligerent communist China, the importance of Konfrontasi to the war in Vietnam, and the British situation east of Suez are examined in detail. The author draws extensively from recently declassified documents in the US, Britain, Australia and New Zealand.