Word: suharto
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...anyone would want the impoverished, California-size region nearly defies understanding. Indeed, the government of Indonesia's President Suharto, who commanded the forces ordered to "liberate" West Irian from Dutch control in 1962, long ago lost any real enthusiasm for the remote and unrewarding territory. But Indonesia's sense of Manifest Destiny was involved. For decades, Indonesians have always rallied to the cry "From Sabang to Merauke!" -from the westernmost island of the 3,000-island archipelago to the easternmost hamlet in West Irian. Said Frans Kaisieppo, the governor of West Irian: "It has become a religious conviction...
Nixon became the first U.S. President to visit Indonesia, the sprawling island chain whose 112 million people make up nearly half the population of Southeast Asia. Indonesians gave him credit for not trying to upset their neutral status, re-established by General Suharto once the mercurial Sukarno was overthrown in 1967. Nixon wants the U.S. to participate in Indonesia's economic development, but he did not urge any shift in foreign policy. "We respect you as a proud and independent nation," he said in Djakarta. "It is on the basis of common values and ideals...
...Suharto and his economists early this spring launched a five-year development plan aimed at more effectively exploiting the nation's huge natural wealth. The plan emphasizes food production, irrigation, rehabilitation of the infrastructure and land-sea-air communications. If all goes well, Indonesia will be self-sufficient in rice production by 1974. The government also hopes to persuade 3,000,000 women to adopt birth-control methods. Exports, worth $643 million last year, are important in the country's growth plans. By 1974, Indonesia hopes to raise its export of primary commodities such as oil, rubber...
Many Economies. For all the successes of Suharto's technocrats, Indonesia's persisting problems are staggering. Unless the benefits of stabilization filter down to the masses soon, political problems may surface again. The new five-year plan is dependent in part on foreign aid, which totals $500 million this year, $208 million of that from the U.S. A drop in assistance could cripple the plan. So could a bad harvest. The bureaucracy remains often corrupt, inefficient and underemployed, and civil service reform is a long way off. The nation's Chinese minority (about...
Perhaps most serious of all is the fact that communications between Djakarta and the outer islands of the huge archipelago barely exist. "At the moment," says Sadli, "Indonesia is not an integrated economic entity. There are many economies, living side by side, using the same currency." Only when Suharto's technocrats find a way to gear these economies together will Indonesia be well on the way to realizing its giant potential...