A Pretty Unfair Place

Throughout its history, East Timor has been a lesson in what not to do: how not to run a colony, how not to run a province, how not to prepare a territory for independence, and how not to treat a smaller neighbour. While many foreign commentators have been prompt to write East Timor off as a ’failed state’, they conveniently ignore the fact that other states are also to blame for its failings, particularly Portugal, Indonesia and Australia, as well as the United Nations. East Timor’s first ten years since self-determination have been marked by denial, naïveté, ignorance, prejudice, incompetence, maladministration, and an unwillingness of people from different countries to work with each other instead of against each other. It is a lesson for those places in the world seeking independence, and those governments who seek to deny independence to others. Yet despite all this, East Timor remains a place with hope.