Previous Study Review of Historical Background
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2006 grants that the New Order quickly “ended Sukarno’s confrontation with Malaysia” p. 167.
The next review attempts to relate the confrontation with its consequences regarding the economic matter in Indonesia. Crouch 1978 examines that the
economic downturn approaching 1965 was the result of political tensions between Indonesia and the Western Bloc when Sukarno launched a military campaign to
crush the Malaysian Federation p. 57. Rotter 2010 explains that the United States US was involved in this confrontation because the United States
“schemed to keep Malaysia under British control” p. 273. As a financially influential country, the United States played the role to overcome the situation.
Washington threatened to cut off all aid unless Sukarno ceased the confrontation. Haplessly, the situation became worse since Sukarno challenged the
Washington’s threats p. 273. As Weinstein 2007 notes, Sukarno adamantly continued the confrontation and took the risk for losing the economic assistances
p. 219. Later, as Beeson 2006 explains that Sukarno’s Go to hell with your aid was a clear decision that confrontation had to be continued. Consequently,
the decision had made Indonesia withdrawn from “the World Bank, the IMF, and the United Nations p. 166. Furthermore, this economic downturn has also
caused another problem; food shortages. As stated by Rosin, Stock, and Campbell 2012, during the early 1960s, a combination of drought, a rat plague on Java, the
destruction of crops due to the eruption of the Gunung Agung volcano on Bali, and imprudent economic policy resulted in large-scale food shortages across the
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archipelago p. 147. Although it was not the only cause of the famine that hit Indonesia in 1964, the food shortages are the result of the combination between
the economic downturn and the poor condition of the nature. Rotten 2010 adds that due to the worsening political situation between Indonesia and the Western
Bloc that resulted in the economic downturn, Sukarno openly moved to the left politically p. 273.
In conclusion, Malaysia confrontation is actually the impact of the flourishing PKI and the Indonesian revolution in opposing the Western bloc’s
political strategy during the Cold War. It has significantly contributed to the escalating tension of the Cold War especially in Southeast Asia when Indonesia
openly drifts the politics to the Eastern bloc due to the faltering economy.