• Indonesia Commission: Peace and Progress in Papua

  Director:	David L. Phillips, Executive Director, The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity
  Chair:	Dennis C. Blair, Former Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Command

  August 1, 2002 - May 1, 2003

  There is only one way to avoid further conflict in the remote and impoverished, yet resource-rich, Indonesian province of Papua: Give it greater self-governance and a stake in the development of its vast natural wealth. Failure to prevent conflict in Papua would likely cause a spiral of deadly violence destabilizing Indonesia. This is the central conclusion of the Council’s Indonesia Commission: Peace and Progress in Papua. Chaired by Admiral Dennis C. Blair, former Commander-in-Chief of the United States Pacific Command, the Commission recommends concrete steps international stakeholders can take to encourage full and effective implementation of the Special Autonomy Law, which promises substantial portions of the province’s wealth to Papuans. Enacted by the Indonesian authorities, it was never put into force. The Commission argues that power-sharing represents a win-win situation: Special Autonomy preserves Indonesia’s territorial integrity while advancing the needs of Papuans. The report also identifies a pro-active role for the international community via new mechanisms for donor and policy coordination.

  
  

   

  News Releases

  May 7, 2003

  To Avoid Deadly Violence in Papua, Council Commission Urges Immediate implementation of Special Autonomy Plan by Indonesian Government

   

  to top

• The Global Finance Regime

  

  Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.

  New Council Special Reports

  
  

  Enhancing U.S. Preventive Action

  Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.

  The United States in the New Asia

  For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.

  Complete list of Council Special Reports

  New Books

  Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.

  

  In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.

  In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.

  Complete list of CFR Books

  David Rockefeller Studies Program Contacts

  For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:

  James M. Lindsay
  Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
  +1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
  jlindsay@cfr.org

  Janine Hill
  Deputy Director of Studies Administration
  +1.212.434.9753
  jhill@cfr.org

   

•  

Copyright 2009 by the Council on Foreign Relations. All Rights Reserved.