Fire and the Full Moon: Canada and Indonesia in a Decolonizing World

Webster (international studies, U. of Regina, Canada) analyzes Canadian-Indonesian relations between 1945 and 1999. He argues that relations during the Sukarno years (1945-1966) were "like fire and the full moon," in that Sukarno's Indonesia had a diplomatic self-image as an independent nation formed, to use Sukarno's own words, "in the fire's heart of revolution," as opposed to those that had been granted independence as a gift, "under the rays of the full moon … protected by the perfume of roses and jasmine." Sukarno's Indonesia was in the midst of fiery struggle for greatness, from this perspective, while Canadian diplomats involved in Indonesia economic issues thought that Indonesia would be better served to proceed "in a more peaceful, orderly and co-operative fashion." Webster also describes how relations warmed following the overthrow of Sukarno by the dictator Suharto, largely due to the increasing convergence of official Canadian and Indonesian development visions. Distributed in the US by UTP Distribution. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)