THE INTERNATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF AUTHORITARIAN RULE IN ISLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1969-1977 A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Mattias Emerson Fibiger May 2018 © 2018 Mattias Emerson Fibiger THE INTERNATIONAL AND TRANSNATIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF AUTHORITARIAN RULE IN ISLAND SOUTHEAST ASIA, 1969-1977 Mattias Emerson Fibiger, Ph. D. Cornell University 2018 This dissertation examines the making of authoritarian rule in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore from 1969-1977. American President Richard Nixon and National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger funneled vast sums of U.S. military and economic aid to island Southeast Asia via the anticommunist policy of the Nixon Doctrine. Facing no meaningful communist threats, national leaders in the region then used American largesse to construct and consolidate newly authoritarian regimes. Indonesia played a leading role in this process, disseminating its authoritarian state-building doctrine of national resilience and encouraging a “New Orderization” of island Southeast Asia. The transformation of the region’s political systems then reverberated on both sides of the Pacific. In the United States, diasporic communities and human rights groups lobbied against the provision of American aid to authoritarian regimes and contributed to a broad left-right coalition that undermined the Nixon and Ford administration’s core foreign policy projects. In island Southeast Asia, the narrowing of legitimate channels of political contestation produced an efflorescence of disloyal opposition movements, including communist, Islamist, and separatist insurgencies. The narrative emphasizes several themes, including the international and transnational construction of authoritarian rule, the importance of regional history, and the agency of American and Southeast Asian leaders and publics. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Born in Vancouver, Canada, Mattias Fibiger emigrated to the United States with his family as an adolescent. He graduated high school in California and continued on to pursue undergraduate studies in history at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he graduated with high honors and distinction. He entered the doctoral program in history at Cornell University in August 2012. In July 2018, he will become Assistant Professor in the Business, Government, and International Economy unit at Harvard Business School. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I have amassed no small number of debts in completing this dissertation. Thanks must be given first to a first-rate group of teachers and mentors. At the University of California at Santa Barbara, Tsuyoshi Hasegawa and Salim Yaqub taught me to think like a historian and encouraged me to pursue a career in this field. At Cornell, Chen Jian, Eric Tagliacozzo, and Tom Pepinsky pushed me to extend the geographic and conceptual reach of my arguments. Whatever merit this project possesses owes a great deal to the challenges and puzzles they set before me. Thess Savella and Jolanda Pandin guided me through learning Tagalog and Indonesian with unfailing grace—maraming salamat po and terima kasih banyak. Most of all, Fred Logevall provided sterling mentorship, ceaselessly insisting that my writing be more concise and my thinking be more precise. Even after decamping for Harvard, he continued to serve as my advisor and the shepherd of my professional and intellectual development. His generosity is a model for the profession. A number of other individuals and institutions also deserve thanks. The Department of History at Cornell provided funds for small research trips to archives across the United States and a yearlong fellowship to allow me to write away from Ithaca. The department’s indefatigable graduate field assistant, Barb Donnell, was a persistent source of warmth and advice. Cornell’s Southeast Asia Program contributed funds for small research trips and venues to present early versions of this work. The university’s library staff scanned reams of pages for me, and its island Southeast Asia doyen, Jeff Petersen, helped track down hard-to- find publications. The United States Department of State offered a Critical Language v Scholarship to spend a summer living and learning in Indonesia. The Social Science Research Council and the Judith Reppy Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies each provided yearlong fellowships that enabled me to spend extended periods of time conducting research in archives across the United States, Southeast Asia, and Australia. The staffs of the Nixon and Ford Presidential Libraries, the National Archives and Records Administration, the International Monetary Fund Archives, the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, the ASEAN Resource Center, the Arkib Negara Malaysia, the Carlos Romulo Library, the University of the Philippines Library, and the National Archives of Australia helped me navigate unfamiliar collections and find valuable materials. And finally, scholars at the Fakultas Ilmu Sosial dan Ilmu Politik at Universitas Indonesia and the Department of International and Strategic Studies at Universiti Malaya lent institutional affiliations and assistance in obtaining research visas. Family sustained me through graduate school. My parents were an endless source of love and support. From an early age they instilled in me a thirst for intellectual pursuit. I am grateful for them, and for the lessons they continue to teach me today. My siblings offered encouragement, humor, and the occasional respite from the frustrations of writing on the golf course, the ski hill, and the basketball and tennis courts—where they inevitably renewed my frustrations by laughing at a shank, a wipeout, or a missed shot. My foremost debt is to my partner, Maggie, who fills my life with love and laughter. She tolerated my absence when research and writing were going well and, far worse, my presence when they were going badly. When it appears as a book, this project will be dedicated to her. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Biographical Sketch iv Acknowledgements v List of Figures viii Abbreviations and Acronyms ix Introduction 1 Chapter One: Origins 23 Chapter Two: Authoritarianization I 68 Chapter Three: Authoritarianization II 131 Chapter Four: Dissent 183 Chapter Five: Revolutions 232 Coda: Selling Time 290 References 311 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: International Aid and Total Government Revenue in Indonesia 104 Figure 2: Indonesia’s Military Budget and Total U.S. Aid 106 Figure 3: Insurgent Groups in the Philippines 246 viii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS In the Text: AAS: Association of Asian Scholars ABRI: Armed Forces of the Republic of Indonesia (Angkatan Bersenjata Republik Indonesia) ADB: Asian Development Bank AFP: Armed Forces of the Philippines AMSRP: Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines ASEAN: Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASPAC: Asian and Pacific Council Aspri: Personal Assistants (Asisten Pribadi) Bakin: State Intelligence Coordinating Agency (Badan Koordinasi Intelijen Negara) Bappenas: National Development Planning Agency (Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Nasional) BCC: Basic Christian Community BDSU: Barrio Self-Defense Unit BN: Barisan Nasional (National Front) CBCP: Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines CCAS: Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars CEP: Congress Education Project CFAH: Concerned Filipinos and Americans in Hawaii CGP: Consultative Group for the Philippines CNL: Christians for National Liberation CPM: Communist Party of Malaya ix CPP: Communist Party of the Philippines CSIS: Centre for Strategic and International Studies DAP: Democratic Action Party Depnankam: Department of Defense and Security (Departemen Pertahanan dan Keamanan) DI: Darul Islam DNU: Department of National Unity EPU: Economic Planning Unit FELCA: Federal Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Authority FELDA: Federal Land Development Authority FFP: Friends of the Filipino People FMS: Foreign Military Sales FPDA: Five Power Defense Arrangement FUEMSSO: Federation of United Kingdom and Eire Malaysian and Singaporean Student Organisations GAM: Free Aceh Movement (Gerakan Aceh Merdeka) GDP: Gross Domestic Product Gerakan: Malaysian People’s Movement Party (Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia) Golkar: Functional Groups (Golongan Karya) GPI: Islamic Youth Movement (Gerakan Pemuda Islam) Hankamrata: Total People’s Defense and Security (Pertahanan Keamanan Rakyat Semesta) HDB: Housing and Development Board HMI: Islamic Student Association (Himpunan Mahasiswa Islam) ICHDF: Integrated Civilian Home Defense Forces x IGGI: Inter-Governmental Group on Indonesia IMF: International Monetary Fund ISA: Internal Security Act JI: Jema’ah Islamiyah KAMI: Indonesian Student Action Front (Kesatuan Aksi Mahasiswa Indonesia) KAPPI: Indonesian Highschool Student Action Front (Kesatuan Aksi Pelajar Pemuda Indonesia) KBL: New Society Movement (Kilusan Bagong Lipunan) KDP: Union of Democratic Filipinos (Katipunan ng mga Demokratikong Pilipino) Kesban: Security and Development (Keselamatan dan Pembangunan) KM: Patriotic Youth (Kabataang Makabayan) KNPI: National Indonesian Youth Committee (Komite Nasional Pemuda Indonesia) Kopkamtib: Operational Command for the Restoration of Security and Order (Komando Operasi Pemulihan Keamanan dan Ketertiban) Lemhannas: National Defense Institute (Lembaga Ketahanan Nasional) MAF: Malaysian Armed Forces MAN: Movement for the Advancement of Nationalism MAP: Military Assistance