Britain and the Confrontation with Indonesia 1960- 66 (book review)

Title :-Britain and the Confrontation with Indonesia 1960- 66

By :- David Easter

Published :- Tauris Academic Studies (2004) Hard back (200 pages)

Outline :- Soekarno wanted to annex Malaysia from the British colonial powers and incorporate it into a pan-Indonesia empire. His approach was to back an uprising in Brunei and have them merge with Indonesia. However the British got word of the plot and helped the sultan of Brunei defeat the plotters. Thereafter the Sultan of Brunei sought close military ties with Britain. Soekarno then embarked on a gorilla war to infiltrate Sabah & Sarawak villages and then create an uprising from within to join Indonesia. Britain countered with increasing frontier military posts etc. Over many years the undeclared war was referred to as “confrontation” by Soekarno and a “police action” by Britain. Britain defended these states as it saw it as its responsibility to allow the Malaysians develop their own form of government, which took time. The war almost bankrupted Britain, but all incursions through the jungle or by small boats were repelled. Eventually Soekarno was replaced by Suharto who promptly ended the war. Shortly thereafter Malaysia became an independent country, and for a while continued support by Britain for military defense and training.

The book looks at many aspects of this conflict, including hole politics in each of the countries.