David Webster Challenge the Strong Wind: Canada and East Timor, 1975–99
| Author | Ferry de Kerckhove |
| Published date | 01 March 2021 |
| Date | 01 March 2021 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/0020702021994660 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
Book Reviews
David Webster
Challenge the Strong Wind: Canada and East Timor, 1975–99.
Vancouver: UBC Press, 2020. 312pp. $89.95 (cloth)
ISBN: 9780774862974
Reviewed by: Ferry de Kerckhove (ferry@dekerckhove.ca), University of Ottawa, Canada
As the first Canadian Ambassador to East Timor or, more appropriately, Timor-
Leste, and having led the Canadian delegation to its formal independence ceremo-
ny on 20 May 2002, in Dili, I read with avid interest David Webster’s Challenge the
Strong Wind: Canada and East Timor, 1975–99, which tells the story of Canada’s
involvement, or lack thereof, in the evolution from Portuguese colony to subjuga-
tion by Indonesia and eventual independence of this half island in the far east of
the Indonesian archipelago. While the book purports to underscore the role of civil
society’s “counter-policy” in shaping Canada’s ultimate decision to support
Timor’s accession to a nation-state status, it also paints the struggle between
values and interests in Canadian foreign policy-making over a period of 25 years.
I should start by an admission: while I have dealt with sensitive issues for a
number of years in Foreign Affairs, until my transfer from Pakistan to Jakarta,
I had a very limited knowledge about East Timor, which confirms Webster’s point
about a late coming to Asia by Foreign Affairs.
Thus, the book’s general take surprised me: a limited initial engagement by the
Government of Canada into the Timor issue and a general alignment with allied
policy, particularly the US and Australia, which meant not antagonizing Indonesia
as a bulwark against spreading communism in the region. It also meant a gleeful
acceptance of the argument that East Timor was not viable as a state in order to
accept its integration from Portugal to Indonesia while meekly accepting East
Timor’s right to self-determination. The key point made by Webster is that this
right would not have accrued to East Timor without the work of a range of NGOs
working at the national and international levels. Was there as much hypocrisy in
Canada as he posits or was this more ignorance and automatic alignment with our
allies who either had greater interests (e.g., the US) or knew more about East
Timor and could convince us of the path chosen? The uncomfortable truth is
that, for a number of years, Canada expressed understanding for Indonesia’s
International Journal
2021, Vol. 76(1) 163–177
!The Author(s) 2021
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DOI: 10.1177/0020702021994660
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