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Article: Suharto's legacy.
- Article from:
- National Observer - Australia and World Affairs
- Article date:
- September 22, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Council for the National Interest. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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The recently deceased President Suharto of Indonesia is routinely referred to by Australian journalists as a brutal dictator--they can't find a good word to say about him. Yet no-one did more to improve Indonesia as a nation, and to provide long-term stability for Australia and the region.
The later years of his predecessor, President Soekarno, were a shambles and worse. Soekarno's inability to govern properly threatened his own country and others near it. Externally he embarked on a dangerous and disastrous course of confrontasi with his Malaysian neighbours. Internally his rule disintegrated, and he increasingly had to rely for support on the powerful ...