Subversion as Foreign Policy: U.S. Intervention in Indonesia, 1950s

Audrey Kahin's book analyzes covert U.S. intervention in Indonesia during the late 1950s, based on secret documents and participant interviews. The work details the supply of thousands of weapons, the creation of a secret CIA air force, and logistical support from the Seventh Fleet. It describes an operation kept secret from the American public for nearly 40 years.

Use Cases

• Analyzing covert intervention strategies based on descriptions of weapon supply and CIA air force deployment.
• Studying diplomatic and military history based on accounts of secret documents and participant interviews.
• Examining the impact of foreign policy on civil conflict based on the description of provoked civil war.
• Researching Cold War dynamics in Southeast Asia based on the focus on U.S.-Indonesia relations.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on access to secret documents, providing primary source insight.
• Includes interviews with many participants, offering firsthand perspectives.
• Focuses on a specific, large-scale covert operation in the late 1950s.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Data may reflect temporal and source bias inherent to the book's historical analysis.

Provenance

Source

Audrey Kahin, Murdoch University

Collection Method

Historical research based on secret documents and interviews.

Time Range

Late 1950s

Geography

Indonesia