CONCORD REVIEW Democracy Combined with Stagnant Economic Growth
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After gaining independence from the Dutch at the conclusion of the Second World War, Indonesia found itself in a tumultuous period of Western-style parliamentary THE CONCORD REVIEW democracy combined with stagnant economic growth. During this period, a postwar THE economic boom occurred for the global timber industry beginning in the early 1950s and extending into the late 1980s. In 1959, the Philippines and Malaysia were the two largest exporters of hardwood, while Indonesia’s timber industry was still a fl edgling business.1 Indonesia, however, had an untapped forestry sector, CONCORD REVIEW with three-quarters of the entire archipelago covered in forests.2 These forests would play a pivotal role in the geopolitics of Indonesia in the ensuing decades. A longtime nationalist, President Sukarno, Indonesia’s fi rst president, created the I am simply one who loves the past and is diligent in investigating it. 1960 Basic Agrarian Law ostensibly to safeguard the Indonesian people’s basic K’ung-fu-tzu (551-479 BC) The Analects rights to the land. Article 21 paragraph one of that law stated “Only an Indonesian Yes, these are3 citizen may have rights of ownership [to forest land].” Over time, the legisla- President Suharto Jun Bin Lee tion served to push out foreign businesses from Indonesia, leaving Indonesia’s Jakarta Intercultural School, Jakarta forestry industry in tatters, as most of the sector had been composed of investors Judicial Independence Perri Wilson and corporationsHigh from abroad. Without School the support of foreign businesses, the Commonwealth School, Boston, Massachusetts growth of Indonesia’s logging operations stagnated, leaving the country with just Winter 2016 Athenian Democracy Duohao Xu $4 million in timber exports up until 1966.4 1 St. Andrew’s School, Middletown, Delaware However, the face of Indonesia’sStudents forestry sector changed dramatically when Su- Fannie and Freddie Ishwar Mukherjee karno fell from power in 1965. Between 1965 and 1966, the Indonesian Army Scarsdale High School, Scarsdale, New York eliminated Sukarno’s Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) through mass killings, Leni Riefenstahl Elizabeth Kim and Major General Suharto became the president in February of 1967. Under Winsor School, Boston, Massachusetts Suharto’s rule, Indonesia’s forestry industry grew exponentially, turning Indonesia Question of Christology Abby Langford into the largest exporter of tropical timber by 1973.5 Episcopal School of Acadiana, Cade, Louisiana In fact, Suharto played a tremendous role in facilitating the development of the Number Two Twenty-Seven, Volume Internal Migration Johannes Nehemiah Hui country’s timber and plywood industries into global contenders. These indus- Bellarmine College Prep, San Jose, California tries achieved massive growth during Suharto’s reign (1967-1998), culminating Trial of Warren Hastings Pavan Nagaraj in a command over international markets for this sector. The transformation of The Northwest School, Seattle, Washington Indonesia’s ailing timber trade into a global powerhouse came at a huge cost, Mary Woodard Lasker Langley Grace Wallace however. It was by ignoring international standards, removing indigenous peoples, Sidwell Friends School, Washington, DC Adams and Hobbes Yeorin An Cheongshim International Academy, Gapyeong-gun 1 Serious High School History Students George Mortimer Pullman Benjamin Henly Wittenbrink University of Chicago Laboratory High School, Chicago, Illinois A Quarterly Review of Essays by Students of History subscribe submit donate tcr.org Volume 27, Number Two $30.00 Winter 2016 THE CONCORD REVIEW Volume Twenty-Seven, Number Two Winter 2016 1 Jun Bin Lee President Suharto 25 Perri Wilson Judicial Independence 41 Duohao Xu Athenian Democracy 57 Ishwar Mukherjee Fannie and Freddie 103 Elizabeth Kim Leni Riefenstahl 131 Abby Langford Question of Christology 155 Johannes Nehemiah Hui Internal Migration 179 Pavan Nagaraj Trial of Warren Hastings 203 Langley Grace Wallace Mary Woodard Lasker 253 Yeorin An Adams and Hobbes 273 Benjamin Henly Wittenbrink George Mortimer Pullman 294 Notes on Contributors Editor and Publisher, Will Fitzhugh E-MAIL: [email protected] WEBSITE: tcr.org The Winter 2016 issue of The Concord Review is Volume Twenty-Seven, Number Two Partial funding was provided by: Carter Bacon, Earhart Foundation, the History Channel, the Lagemann Foundation, Robert Grusky, Jason May, the Rose Foundation, Anonymous, and other donors. ©2016, by The Concord Review, Inc., 730 Boston Post Road, Suite 24, Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776, USA. All rights reserved. This issue was typeset on an iMac, using Adobe InDesign, and fonts from Adobe. EDITORIAL OFFICES: The Concord Review, 730 Boston Post Road, Suite 24, Sudbury, Massachusetts 01776 USA [1-978-443-0022] The Concord Review (ISSN #0895-0539), founded in 1987, is published quarterly by The Concord Review, Inc., a non-profit, tax-exempt, 501(c) (3) Massachusetts corporation. Subscription rates: $90 + s&h ($10 US / $50 international) for four printed copies ($100/$140), or $60 for one year of four ebook issues (PDF). Orders for 30 or more subscriptions (class sets) will receive a 25% discount. Subscription orders must be paid in advance, and change-of-address information must be sent to your account information at tcr.org. TCR SUBSCRIPTIONS: Subscribe at tcr.org, or by check mailed to 730 Boston Post Road, Suite 24, Sudbury, MA 01776 USA; email: [email protected] The Editor will consider all manuscripts received, but can assume no responsibility regarding them. 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Copyright 2016, The Concord Review, Inc., all rights reserved GAME OF THRONES: PRESIDENT SUHARTO AND THE RISE OF INDONESIAN FORESTRY Jun Bin Lee Introduction After gaining independence from the Dutch at the conclusion of the Second World War, Indonesia found itself in a tumultuous period of Western-style parliamentary democracy combined with stagnant economic growth. During this period, a postwar economic boom occurred for the global timber industry beginning in the early 1950s and extending into the late 1980s. In 1959, the Philippines and Malaysia were the two largest exporters of hardwood, while Indonesia’s timber industry was still a fledgling business.1 Indonesia, however, had an untapped forestry sector, with three-quarters of the entire archipelago covered in forests.2 These forests would play a pivotal role in the geopolitics of Indo- nesia in the ensuing decades. A longtime nationalist, President Sukarno, Indonesia’s first president, created the 1960 Basic Agrarian Law ostensibly to safeguard the Indonesian people’s basic rights to the land. Article 21 paragraph one of that law stated “Only an Indonesian citizen Jun Bin Lee is a Senior at Jakarta Intercultural School in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he wrote this paper for Jason Cha’s Independent Study course in the 2015/2016 academic year. 2 Jun Bin Lee may have rights of ownership [to forest land].”3 Over time, the legislation served to push out foreign businesses from Indonesia, leaving Indonesia’s forestry industry in tatters, as most of the sector had been composed of investors and corporations from abroad. Without the support of foreign businesses, the growth of Indonesia’s logging operations stagnated, leaving the country with just $4 million in timber exports up until 1966.4 However, the face of Indonesia’s forestry sector changed dramatically when Sukarno fell from power in 1965. Between 1965 and 1966, the Indonesian Army eliminated Sukarno’s Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) through mass killings, and Major General Suharto became the president in February of 1967. Under Suharto’s rule, Indonesia’s forestry industry grew exponentially, turning Indonesia into the largest exporter of tropical timber by 1973.5 In fact, Suharto played a tremendous role in facilitating the development of the country’s timber and plywood industries into global contenders. These industries achieved massive growth during Suharto’s reign (1967-1998), culminating in a command over international markets for this sector. The transformation of Indonesia’s ailing timber trade into a global powerhouse came at a huge cost, however. It was by ignoring international standards, removing indigenous peoples, creating uncompetitive tax laws, forming monopolies, censoring free speech, using bribery, allow- ing nepotism, and exploiting his own environmental laws, that Suharto was able to make Indonesia’s forestry industry thrive. In effect, Suharto was able to harness the country’s wood resources for immense personal as well as national economic gain. The New Order and the Disenfranchisement of the Adat Com- munities Before Suharto took power in 1967, the Basic Agrarian