Since nationbuilding was not a common word or accepted political practice before 11 September, there exists no pool of experts. There are no manuals on nationbuilding. However, a few things on the East Timorese experience were brought to light during the seminar held at the Geographical Society in Lisbon.
It is well known that East Timor presents a unique situation in that its people have never built autonomous and independent institutions. From 1515 to 1975 East Timor was a Portuguese colony, with a short interruption during the Japanese invasion and occupation from 1941 to 1945. In 1975, while decolonization was proceeding in the former Portuguese empire, Indonesia unlawfully annexed East Timor as its 27th province.
This publication brings together some of the defining papers given at the seminar on Nationbuilding in East Timor, and hopes to contribute to identifying the new challenges of nationbuilding.
