East Timor and Grassroots Solidarity
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Development. Copyright © 2000 The Society for International Development. SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi), 1011-6370 (200009) 43:3; 58–61; 014215.
Local/Global Encounters
East Timor and Grassroots Solidarity GREG KNEHANS
ABSTRACT Greg Knehans looks at how a relatively small network of non-state actors, working in opposition to the most powerful countries in the world, helped to end one of the international tragedies of recent times. KEYWORDS grassroots organizations; human rights; realism; solidarity
Introduction In The Melian Debate, Thucydides documented the exchanges between Athens and Melos during the Peloponnesian war. The Athenians wished to take over Melos and attempted to persuade the Melians to surrender peacefully. To fight would be to invite ruin, as the Athenians had the greater army and had already surrounded the Melians. But they refused to surrender, arguing on moral grounds that they could rely on their allies to join them in their resistance. The Athenians thus laid siege to the city, the allies did not show up, and Melos was destroyed. Reading The Melian Debate is a common requirement for new students of international relations, and the lessons to be learned from it are clear. In an anarchical system of self-help, states cannot rely on others to defend their security. They must have the power to do this themselves, and power means military capacity and control over material resources. Failure to recognize this is to be delusional at best, self-destructive at worse. The Melian Debate functions as the historical precedent and anchor for the realist construction of timeless truths of international relations. While realism’s dominance of the field may have ended, its core assumptions concerning anarchy, power, security and the centrality of the nation-state arguably still represent the core of international relations. More than 2000 years later, East Timor would appear to be the reincarnation of Melos. A tiny, isolated island, lacking resources, military power and allies, faced an invasion by a vast army backed by the most powerful nations and
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Knehans: East Timor and Grassroots Solidarity institutions in the world. Seemingly inevitably, it suffered terribly. Now, after 25 years, the Indonesian military has left and East Timor will soon be an independent country. What accounts for this difference? A number of explanations suggest themselves but perhaps the most important is the one least recognized. East Timor is free in part because it did indeed have an ally – a globally connected network of grassroots solidarity groups. Though largely small, marginalized and lacking power in the traditional sense, these groups created and took advantage of opportunities, challenged, embarrassed and changed the policies of powerful nations and institutions, keeping East Timor alive as an international issue. Although changes like the fall of Suharto were certainly important, on their own they would not have produced an independent East Timor.
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