Teaching East Timor in International Studies:

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Our role in International Studies, I believe, is
not to sanitise and not to dramatise the issue,
but to be objective in relaying what can and
should be, an emotive case study for our
students.
In analysing East Timor it is important to
understand, but not to judge the people for the
state of their land.
Teaching East Timor in International Studies
Andrew Masterton, Caulfield Grammar School
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Teaching East Timor A brainstorm What an
amazing set of concepts we can teach using this
case study.

• What is a state?
• How does the world create a new state?
• Colonialism/ Decolonisation
• The Cold War
• Human Rights
• Refugees
• Culture
• History
• The people their stories
• The viability of small states
• Fascism/ Communism / Socialism
• Grassroots Action
• Neo-colononial / Neo-imperial

• Where is East Timor?
• Why does East Timor exist?
• Indonesia
• The Dutch / Portuguese
• The United Nations
• Power
• The national interest
• Sovereignty
• Security
• Nationalism
• Sacrifice
• The Cold War

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Five key stages

• 1600s A Portuguese colony.
• 1975 The Indonesian invasion.
• 1975-1999 Indonesian occupation
• 1999 The gaining of independence
• 2006 Political difficulties.

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How did East Timor succeed in becoming an
independent state?

• 3 FACTORS
• The armed resistance
• The civil resistance
• The international diplomatic front

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RESOURCES ON THE NET

• Inside Indonesia www.insideindonesia.org
• A special issue on East Timor No. 71 July-Sept
  2002.
• Some of the articles include
• Timor's women After the brutal occupation,
  gender violence remains a reality
• Born in the wrong era Amidst globalisation, can
  East Timor still be a people's alternative?
• The forgotten of West Timor Poverty, refugees,
  militias, and too many soldiers
•  

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http//www.timorseajustice.org/
US calls for fair Timor dealBy Nigel Wilson,
March 11, 2004
The campaignNewsTake actionFAQsBackgroundReso
urces in disputeInternational lawPress releases
Media CoverageContactsLinksEvents
The Timor Sea Treaty Are the Issues Resolved? Dr
Stephen SherlockForeign Affairs, Defence and
Trade Group18 June 2002
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Empathy piece Imagine the following scenario.
It is December 1999 and the United Nations
international peacekeeping force, INTERFET, has
been in East Timor since September. The UN has
also set up an interim government, UNTAET, to
administer East Timor until it has set up its own
government. Time magazine has flown over two of
its best journalists to report on the situation.
Each journalist must report on a different aspect
of the conflict. Their briefs are as follows
Journalist OneFocus on the background to the
conflict in East Timor. This report must provide
a brief summary of East Timor's history from
around 1520 onwards. It should pay particular
attention to the years 1974 to 1976 and should
explain the aims of the East Timorese political
parties which were formed during this
time. Journalist Two Focus on the involvement
of the United Nations and the INTERFET Force. Our
readers will be particularly interested in the
guidelines INTERFET are supposed to follow and in
the governing role played by the United Nations.
This will include information on the temporary
administration, UNTAET, set up by the
UN. http//www.globaleducation.edna.edu.au/archiv
es/secondary/casestud/east-timor/1/history-in-maki
ng-1.html
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International Politics Throughout Units 1 and
4, it is possible for East Timor to be the key
case study from which many concepts are
researched and compared from the vantage point of
the struggle of a nation over the last 30 years.
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Unit 1 Politics, power and people This unit
introduces students to the study of politics by
considering key concepts and ideas including
representation, citizenship, power and democracy.
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Unit 1 Politics, power and people AREA OF STUDY
1 Democracies and dictatorships In researching
East Timor as a democracy students will realise
how fragile a concept and reality it actually is.
That it takes time, effort and unity to keep an
impoverished state together. What makes East
Timor so special in the international community?
Students would learn the underlying values,
ideologies, political structures and processes
that define nation states. They would need to
consider the historical, social and political
context of each system, structures of government,
the means of exercising power, representation and
the extent of popular participation. Students
could compare East Timor with the military
dictatorship of Burma (Myanmar)
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Unit 1 Politics, power and people AREA OF STUDY
2 Leading people Students are to consider the
impact of a political leader. Xanana Gusmao comes
immediately to mind. Students would consider his
contribution to national and international
political life, and would develop an
understanding of the context in which he has been
able to exercise power. They would analyse
factors that have contributed to promoting or
undermining his power and influence for example,
social movements, popular support and the
military. Xananas struggle for East Timors
independence and the current crisis would provide
plenty of material. Compare the leadership of
Aung Sang Sui Kyi and her struggle to lead her
nation.
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Unit 2 The global picture This unit focuses on
the nature of contemporary international
relations and the events that shaped them. There
is an opportunity to look at the role of the
United Nations, globalisation, refugees, human
rights Other concepts include power AREA OF
STUDY 2 The international community Students
have the opportunity to analyse the way in which
the international community works together or
not. How did to bring peace and independence to
East Timor. How did it manage the conflict and
instability. The issue of the UN, the UNSC,
peacekepers, human rights, NGOs and refugees are
raised. The role of ASEAN brings the concept of
regions and organisations. Compare this with the
War Against Terror and the situation in Iraq or
the humanitarian crisis in Darfur, Sudan.
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• International Studies
• Unit 3 Global issues and conflicts
• AREA OF STUDY 1
• Globalisation and internationalism
• While East Timor would not be a major case study,
  references to human rights, the UN, peacekeepers
  and the way in which internationalism proposes to
  resolve instability allows for students to have
  concrete examples.
• Unit 4 International relations
• AREA OF STUDY 2
• Australian foreign policy
• Australias relations with both Indonesia and
  East Timor can be a significant case study in
  this Unit. What was Australias response in 1975
  and why? What events lead to Australias shift in
  1999? And consequently, Australias response in
  2006. An investigation into Australias economic
  negotiations with East Timor over the oil and gas
  adds another dimension to a students
  understanding of how Australia moves within the
  region.
• East Timor allows the students to understand the
  way in which foreign policy changes over time
  while the foundation of foreign policy does not
  the pursuit of a states national interest.

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For a student that has followed units 1 through
to 4, a course that has significantly used East
Timor and related comparisons as a case study
clearly allows these students to gain a sold
appreciation, not just for a significant state in
our region, but for the major concepts of
International Politics.
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Thank you For a copy of this powerpoint please
email andrewmasterton_at_caulfieldgs.vic.edu.au htt
p//www.gtav.asn.au/Materials/e_timor.htm