A New Era? Timor-Leste after the UN

Abstract

Timor-Leste has made rapid progress in its first decade as a new state, casting aside the instability that blighted its early years and achieving strong economic growth and institutional development. During 2012, the nation experienced peaceful presidential and parliamentary elections, the winding-up of the Australia-led International Stabilisation Force, and the completion of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission after 13 years of UN presence. But significant challenges remain for the fledgling nation as it struggles to diversify its economy, implement its ambitious social and economic development plans, and preserve stability in the face of projected declines in petroleum revenues. To mark this transition and reflect on the road ahead for Timor-Leste, the College of Asia and the Pacific at The Australian National University (ANU) convened an inaugural Timor-Leste Update on 28–29 November 2013. The opening day of the conference was set to coincide with Timor-Leste’s national Restoration of Independence Day—the date on which the nation unilaterally declared its independence in 1975 and experienced a short-lived independence of 10 days before the Indonesian takeover that lasted 24 years. Full independence was eventually restored on 20 May 2002, following two-and-a-half years of transitional UN administration.