Book Review- THE JAKARTA METHOD: Washington’s Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our World


Have you ever questioned what it took to establish the Capitalistic First World as the dominant way of life?

The Jakarta Method sheds light on the little-known program the US employed around the world during the midst of the Cold War to bring many countries into the Western fold. The blueprint of the program was successfully formed in Indonesia in 1965 (with over 1 million Communists and suspected Communists massacred to make way for the Anticommunist, pro-West authoritarian regime under General Suharto) and this violent method (Massacre, forced disappearance, installation of brutal authority, mostly military) was exported to over 20 countries in Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia. In hindsight, all these had a big effect in how the 20th Century and pro-Western world came to be.


What the author wrapped up the book with are the 5 Impacts of this global terror programs on the world:

i) Actual trauma left to those affected and how each countries have reconciled with this (Argentina and Chile quite a lot, Brazil somewhat, Indonesia not at all)

ii) The elimination of the third possibility for world development. Other than the First Capitalistic World and the Second Communist World, many of the Third World countries, led by Indonesia, really had a chance to forge their own paths. It was going to be difficult but America seemed to make sure it never went anywhere.

iii) Affected nature of regime and economic systems set up in their wake. Because of these programs, we were pretty much left with crony capitalism with powerful oligarchy in Latam and SEA weak state with violent extraction in Africa. To put it simply, the world was divided into Western advanced capitalist countries on one end and resource exporting crony capitalist societies shaped by anticommunism on the other. The effect of this is still felt by many of us today.

iv) deformed world’s socialist movement. The program killed any peaceful, socialist movement as those people were killed off. Many surviving socialist movements, e.g. Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge regime, had to employ violence to make sure they could operate.

v). Fanatical anticommunist hasn’t left us. Many countries still hold on to this stance even though it really has no real-world meaning anymore.


5 things I learn from listening to this book:

  1. Be more curious: The book shows the darker side of the Western way of life. I grew up with the narrative that Communism is the villain and the West is the righteous side. This book shows the sinister and violent side of the American hegemony and the narrative they wanted to hide from everyone. It makes me question a lot of the beliefs I grew up with. We owe ourselves to be more curious about different topics so we can see through false narratives that remain too common.
  2. Be more balanced in your perspective: The American government saw the anticommunist crusade in a black and white term. There is no middle ground or neutral party. You are either supporting anticommunist cause or you are the problem. In reality, there is a lot of shades of grey. For example, Sukarno (of Indonesia) and Ho Chi Minh (of Vietnam) turned liberal/Communist more to fight Colonialism rather than any deep leftist belief. Not understanding these nuances result in a lot of violent and wrong outcome. Thus, one should never see things in such dichotomous fashion.
  3. Don’t succumb to easy rhetorics for prejudice or violence: In many of these countries, it was so easy for the authority to deem any social reforms as a Communist threat and demonize them. The same narrative is reminiscent of all discriminations that have happened around the world including the antisemitic movements and the rising hate crime against the Asian American community.
  4. Value life: America and CIA thought they found a plan that could tilt important countries into their ideological camps without any loss of American lives. It it were to kill some people, it’s worth it, they reason. Any plan that shed lives, let along 1 million plus in Indonesia like this one, should require more thoughts and contemplation. I remember someone suggesting in jest that if a President is to use a nuclear bomb, he/she should be required to kill someone before he press the button so he/she can feel the consequence. That is extreme but lives should be more precious to those in power.
  5. Don’t be a hypocrite: Throughout the history of Colonialism and this chapter of violent interventions, there where a lot of ‘Do what I say but not what I do’ going on. For a better world, it would be good if all of us can empathize with each other and treat them the same way we want to be treated.

Reading this made me nauseated from the atrocities and disregard of human life people could take for the sake of their purpose. The author made it clear that he believed many of the actors that created this environment truly believed that Communism was the enemy worth any sacrifice but it still made the action very galling to contemplate. I love reading books like these that expose areas that were hidden but so profoundly affect most of us. It changed my perspective and should be required reading so we can strive to be better for the society.