【Webinar Report】Peace for Sale: The Cost of Post-Conflict Stability in North Maluku, Indonesia

On Thursday, 2021 May 20^th, an online lecture by current Graduate School of International Relations (GSIR) doctoral candidate, Sugit S. Arjon, was provided. The presentation investigated post-conflict stability in Indonesia under the apt title, “Peace for Sale: The Cost of Post-Conflict Stability in North Maluku, Indonesia.”

Starting with maps of conflict zones in Indonesia and North Maluku, Arjon illustrated the situation in the regions with the most destroyed buildings and casualties before delving into the chapters that make up his research. In particular, the presentation outlined the historical background of the region and conflicts, four periods of conflict in North Maluku from 1999 through 2001, dynamics of peace process after two decades of victims struggling to cope with the trauma from conflicts (2001-2002), post-conflict social recovery during 2002-2003 with the overwhelming flow in aid and assistance that raised three concerns (fairness, practice, and corruption in local elites), post-conflict power shift with elite fighting and rivalries between ethnic identities (2003-2007), political dynasty domination from 2008 to the present (evolution of ethnic identity politics to dynastic power consolidation), and the conclusion wherein peace is sustained at the cost of good governance.

Essentially, said research finds that post-conflict initiatives contributed to the stabilization of local politics and peace in North Maluku; however, that peace has been maintained not precisely because of the intended impact of these initiatives, but because two political dynasties find power equilibrium/power-sharing to be mutually beneficial by exploiting politico-economic opportunities to maintain the intra-elite balance of power, protecting their vested interests.

Arjon also shared important knowledge through a briefer presentation on how to conduct research in a culturally and socially sensitive manner while providing more background  information on the origins of his research theme and elaborating on different types of research methods as well as ethics as an essential part of research through informed consent, confidentiality, etc. for his qualitative research method involving ethnography, participant observation, interviews, etc.

The lecture concluded with a Q&A session, during which Arjon and members of the audience considered several questions, such as how the conflict situation in North Maluku could be applicable to other conflict areas in Southeast Asia and Arjon’s experiences with conducting field research on sensitive issues.

Written by Yami Roca and Yusy Widarahesty (Doctoral Students at the Graduate School of International Relations)