New Book on Indonesia and the Cold War from CWIHP Senior Scholar

CWIHP Senior Scholar Bernd Schaefer recently published a new volume on the 1965-1966 anti-communist purge in Indonesia. The pro-communist coup, military counter-coup and subsequent mass killings resulted in the deaths of between 500,000 and 1,000,000 Indonesians suspected of having supported the communist party's coup. The book, and related event at the Goethe Institute in Jakarta was recently reviewed on Indonesia's Tempo.co. 

The domestic impact of these events can still be seen in Indonesia today, but the role of foreign influences remains largely unexplored. 1965: Indonesia and The World examines the long-established Suharto government's account of the events, and looks at international factors that contributed to the bloodshed. Chapters in the volume explore the influence that China, the Soviet Union, the United States and East and West Germany had on the domestic political landscape of Indonesia.

Schaefer and his co-editor, Baskara Wardaya, spoke recently at the Wilson Center. For more information about and to purchase the book, please click here.