The 'Confrontation' is Britain's forgotten war. Yet as David Easter shows, it was a major commitment involving over 54,000 British servicemen and near-escalation into full-scale war with Indonesia. President Sukarno's 'Confrontation' of Indonesia was an attempt to destroy Britain's plans for Malayasia by guerilla warfare including air and sea landings, and Britain responded with a secret war by supporting rebel groups, propaganda and clandestine cross-border raids. Sukarno was finally overthrown by a pro-Western military government which renounced the Confrontation and accepted Malaysia. Britain's policy, however seemingly successful was, however, vital in her post-imperial retreat from empire and in abandoning her global defence role.
David Easter is a Tutorial Fellow at the London School of Economics in the University of London.
Introduction1 The decision to form Malaysia, 1960-January 19622 The Brunei revolt and the start of Confrontation, January 1962-April 19633 Pressing ahead with Malaysia, April-September 19634 Coping with the Confrontation, September 1963-April 19645 Escalation and rethink, May-October 19646 Labour and Confrontation, October 1964-March 19657 Exit Singapore, April-September 19658 The coup attempt in Indonesia, September 1965-January 19669 Ending the Confrontation, January-August 1966Conclusion
Royal Institute of International Affair Journal: "a keen and focused eye" "where Easter breaks entirely new ground is in his treatment of the clandestine and covert side of Britain's struggle with Indonesia." "paints a revealing picture" "Easter gives us the best picture to date of the undertainties generated in Whitehall during the final months of the conflict" "a fine addition to the recent literature on the confrontation"