Timor Leste
Providing a comprehensive country overview of Southeast Asias newest nation, Timor Leste (East Timor), this book focuses on its cultural and ethno-linguistic diversity, as well as the nations political history from the pre-Portuguese period up to 2009. It pays particular attention to the historical roots of the current challenges to nation building by reviewing the Indonesian occupation; guerrilla warfare by the Timorese against the occupiers; the politics leading up to the United Nations popular consultation; and the vote for independence in 2002.
Explaining the structure of the government and its parliamentary system, the book highlights the problems and historical and cultural underpinnings of the challenges Timor Leste faces in building a stable and viable nation. The author presents a synopsis of selected issues that include: language, truth and reconciliation, the Catholic Churchs political activism, internal security problems, the politics of oil, and the fact that violent conflicts, from 2005 to date, have made it necessary for the United Nations peacekeeping forces to return. Thus far, the book argues, Timor Lestes nation building efforts have been hampered by the dynamic interaction of a number of national and international factors.
As the first comprehensive political and cultural history of East Timor to date, this is an important reference resource for students and researchers in the field of Southeast Asian Studies, Anthropology and Political Science.
Andrea Katalin Molnar is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, USA.
Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series
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2 The Politics of IndonesiaMalaysia Relations
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3 Governance and Civil Society in Myanmar
Education, health and environment
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4 Regionalism in Post-Suharto Indonesia
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5 Living with Transition in Laos
Market integration in Southeast Asia
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6 Christianity, Islam and Nationalism in Indonesia
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7 Violent Conflicts in Indonesia
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12 Expressions of Cambodia
The politics of tradition, identity and change
Edited by Leakthina Chau-Pech Ollier and Tim Winter
13 Financial Fragility and Instability in Indonesia
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14 The Revival of Tradition in Indonesian Politics
The deployment of adat from colonialism to indigenism
Edited by Jamie S. Davidson and David Henley
15 Communal Violence and Democratization in Indonesia
Small town wars
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16 Singapore in the Global System
Relationship, structure and change
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17 Chinese Big Business in Indonesia
The state of the capital
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18 Ethno-religious Violence in Indonesia
From soil to God
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19 Ethnic Politics in Burma
States of conflict
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20 Democratization in Post-Suharto Indonesia
Edited by Marco Bnte and Andreas Ufen
21 Party Politics and Democratization in Indonesia
Golkar in the Post-Suharto era
Dirk Tomsa
22 Community, Environment and Local Governance in Indonesia
Locating the commonweal
Edited by Carol Warren and John F. McCarthy
23 Rebellion and Reform in Indonesia
Jakartas security and autonomy polices in Aceh
Michelle Ann Miller
24 Hadrami Arabs in Present-day Indonesia
An Indonesia-oriented group with an Arab signature
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25 Vietnams Political Process
How education shapes political decision making
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Piety, politics and policies
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27 Timor Leste
Politics, history, and culture
Andrea Katalin Molnar
First published 2010
by Routledge
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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
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2010 Andrea Katalin Molnar
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Molnar, Andrea Katalin, 1964
Timor Leste : politics, history, and culture / Andrea Katalin Molnar.
p. cm. (Routledge contemporary Southeast Asia series)
Simultaneously published in the USA and CanadaT.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. East TimorPolitics and government. 2. Political cultureEast
TimorHistory. 3. Political cultureEast Timor. 4. East TimorHistory. 5.