State of East Timor‪.‬

Abstract: East Timor only approaches the prospect of independence this year, long after the heyday of anti-colonial struggle in the developing world. After a referendum in August 1999 in which over 70% of east Timorese voted for an end to Indonesian rule, a spate of militia-backed violence prompted the dispatch of international peacekeepers to restore and maintain order. Although the peacekeepers appear to have halted Indonesian-sponsored violence against the Timorese, East Timor's reliance on more powerful countries of the world looms ominously as the colony transforms itself into an independent country.