Soviet-Indonesian relations, 1945-1986

Abstract

This thesis examines Soviet-Indonesian relations from 1945 to 1968.The study is placed in the broader context of Soviet-Third World relations. It analyses the major issues and charts the trends that dominated Soviet-Indonesian relations during the period under survey.It begins with a background study of Soviet-Indonesian relations from 1917 to 1945.This is followed by an examination of Soviet policies towards Indonesia under Stalin from August 1945 to March 1953. The next two chapters examine relations between the two countries under the leadership of Khrushchev,the first tracing the developments leading to the growing warmth and the second towards the growing chill inrelations. The fifth chapter examines relations under the Brezhnev-Kosygin leadership. The thesis ends with a brief summary of Soviet-Indonesian relations from 1945 to 1968,the examination of Soviet gains and losses and the evaluation of the Soviet experience in Indonesia in the light of its Third World relations. In the main,the study is issue-oriented, and purports to explain Soviet behaviour towards specific developments in Indonesia. It examines Soviet policies towards Indonesia in the light of its competing global and regional needs on the one hand, and the competing, often conflicting,ideological and national interests priorities ,on the other.The object is to show that Soviet foreign policy cannot simplybe described as being ideological or national interest-oriented or that its goals are always viewed from the regional or global perspective. The study highlights the shifts in Soviet policies towards Indonesia in the context of the changing domestic and international alignments, interests and environment. This in turn demonstrates how Soviet leaders have visualised developments in Indonesia and how changing priorities, policies and interests have called into question strongly held views.It also analyses the interplay of great power rivalries on a regional scene ,on the one hand and the conflicting needs and policies of regional powers on the other and how these have been brought to bear on Soviet foreign policy as far as Indonesia is concerned. The study also analyses the place of Indonesia in the context of the constant reassesment and revision of Soviet attitudes toward the Third World.When it became clear to Soviet policy makers that the policy of isolation was unsuccessful ,how did they relate with Indonesia? When it became evident that neutralism and non-alignment were the bases of the foreign relations of many of the new states, how did these have a bearing on Soviet-Indonesian relations? When the weakness of the proletariat and local communist parties was recognised and the Soviet Union introduced the doctrines of national and revolutionary democracies,where did Indonesia stand in Soviet ideological thinking? Under Brezhnev and Kosygin, the goal of scientific socialism and workers' states was pushed into the future and the immediate task stated as the increase of Soviet influence in the Third World.How was this realised as far as Soviet-Indonesian relations were concerned? How exactly did these changes come to bear on Indonesia and as to whether Soviet-Indonesian relations conformed with the existing pattern or ’line’ is detailed in this study. Show more