Out of Business and on Budget: The Challenge of Military Financing in Indonesia

Lex Rieffel and Jaleswari Pramodhawardani have prodcuced the latest comprehensive and systematic study of this daunting challenge facing Indonesia. They describe the evolution of the military’s business empire under President Suharto and its decline after Suharto’s resignation in 1998. The authors challenge the conventional wisdom that most of the military’s financing comes from it’s business activities, and they cut through the misinformed, muddled thinking that clouds the current debate on military funding requirements. The book identifies thirty policy issues that the government will need to address in building a professional military that has the force structure and operational capacity required to defend the country effectively.

The study, co-published by USINDO and The Brookings Institution Press, is available from the Press using the order form found via the title link above. The study can also be ordered online from Brookings via the following link: https://www.brookings.edu/press/books/outofbusinessandonbudget.htm.