ABSTRACT
There is a view of Indonesian politics according to which the TNI’s primary consideration is not the protection of the people, the imposition of stability nor even the unity of the state; rather, the TNI’s primary interest is its own enrichment (McCulloch 2000a). According to such a view, the TNI’s Territorial structure and its engagement in Indonesia’s troubled provinces are focused primarily on securing and enhancing the TNI’s business interests, both legal and illegal. If one accepts the assumption that the principal motivating factors behind political behaviour are economic considerations, then a substantial amount of evidence may be found to support this view.
