Guardians of Memory: The Indonesian military's collective memory of East Timor

Abstract

For the Indonesian military, the independence of East Timor in 1999 represented the end of twenty-three years of seemingly futile efforts to integrate the province into the Republic of Indonesia. This thesis asks: what is the Indonesian military's collective memory of its experience in East Timor? Does the Indonesian military, long seen as the custodian of national sovereignty and a bulwark against communism, see that campaign as a failure or loss, and, if so, what impact has this had on its sense of identity? Drawing on manifestations of the Indonesian military's official memory as found in public museums and monuments as well personal memoirs, this thesis finds that the military's public narrative of East Timor rejects defeat, reworking the memory of that campaign to affirm its identity and public image as omnipotent "Guardians of the Nation". However, private memories, as articulated in interviews with 26 active and retired members, reveal that within the military, the memories of East Timor are more ambivalent, ranging from an acceptance of failure to outright denial of responsibility. This research seeks not only to contribute to a deeper understanding of the Indonesian military and its place in Indonesian political culture but also contribute to the broader scholarship on how militaries rationalise 'difficult histories' such as defeat and failure.