Number: 98-677
Title: INDONESIA: U.S. RELATIONS WITH THE INDONESIAN MILITARY
Authors: Larry A. Niksch, Foreign Affairs and National Defense Division 
Abstract: This report describes the history and the issues involved in the longstanding differences between Congress and the executive branch over U.S. policy toward the Indonesian military (ABRI). It describes two past episodes when these differences broke out: the period of Indonesian radicalism under President Sukarno in the early 1960s and the initial years of the Indonesian military occupation of East Timor in the late 1970s. It outlines the different views of the Indonesian military between its congressional critics and the executive branch officials who have promoted close U.S. relations with it. The issues between Congress and the Bush and Clinton Administration in the 1990s are discussed within this framework, culminating in American policy toward the ABRI in 1998 as Indonesia's economic-political crisis led to the downfall of President Suharto. Specific issues of the 1990s discussed in the report, including U.S. training of Indonesian military personnel and U.S. arms sales to Indonesia, likely will come to new legislative attention in the near future.
Pages: 11
Date: Updated August 10, 1998