The History of Peace-building in East Timor: The Issues of International Intervention comprehensively analyses various international responses during the pre- and post-independence eras and perspectives in the process of peace-building after the referendum in the country. The book assesses the legitimacy of each response and policy, how these influenced East Timor as a newly independent state, and what the international society expects in the future for the country in turmoil for so long.

This book consists of three sections; sections detailing the history of the crisis, policy analysis and comparative analysis. Section 1 consists of Chapter I, East Timor in the Cold War Period, and Chapter II, Pro- Indonesian Militia Campaigns and the International Response in 1999. Chapter I deals with, initially, the origins of the East Timorese problems, how the political parties in Portuguese Timor were fragmented and the subsequent civil wars generated, and then why and how Indonesia invaded East Timor in December 1975. This chapter also focuses on UN Security Council Resolution 385 (1975) surrounding East Timor at the UN, and the voting behaviour on East Timor in the General Assembly between 1975 and 1982. There is a discussion about the consistency or otherwise in the policies of member states towards the issue of self-determination of East Timor from the Security Council debate in 1975 through the series of votes in the General Assembly up to 1982.