As a result, we were able to respond immediately to the United Nation's request, not only to participate but also to lead the multinational force. In other words, knowing of the plans of the Indonesian military and the militias, the Australian government made ready to be first in on the action. Legal opinion has already been provided that, in the event of East Timor becoming independent, the treaty would have to be renegotiated. Besides the immediate economic benefits, there are wider geo-political considerations behind the Australian and UN intervention into East Timor. In the aftermath of the end of the Cold War, former political alliances and arrangements have broken down.
New arrangements have to be developed.
The specific interests of Australian imperialism in this post-Cold War struggle for control of the vital resources of the region were spelt out in an editorial published in the Sydney Morning Herald last Friday. The crisis in East Timor, after all, is also a reminder that we live in an unpredictable, and potentially unstable, world. To the north, the complexion of Indonesia's post Suharto politics, together with the country's ability to deal peacefully with other separatist challenges, is uncertain. So, too, is Papua New Guinea's future without a lasting settlement in Bougainville and fundamental reform of PNG's political institutions. The China-Taiwan conflict may erupt into a shooting war.