ABSTRACT
The role of the United Nations in East Timor1 is frequently touted as one of the organization’s great success stories. The UN Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), a ground-breaking transitional administration with total executive, legislative and judicial authority, took on the job of nationbuilding in its rawest form. Over 100,000 refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) were resettled, a civil administration was built from scratch, free and fair elections were held, and an independent nation emerged from centuries of Portuguese colonial rule, 24 years of Indonesian military occupation, and the devastating violence of 1999.
