ABSTRACT
The two negotiations in the 1950s took place when United States (US) leadership in world affairs was strong and were about the conditions of US assistance to Indonesia. The first, in 1951-3, addressed Indonesia's compliance with the United Nations embargo against Communist China and symbolic and operational military concessions by it in exchange for military and economic aid agreements. The second bargaining process was related to the rebellion of 1958 of the supporters of former vice-president Muhammed Hatta against the central government led by President Sukarno. It involved an unsuccessful US effort to interfere coercively in Indonesia's domestic affairs. The negotiations of 1981-9 were related to the restructuring of US-Indonesian economic relations. They addressed intellectual property rights, (textile) market access questions, the liberalization of trade between Indonesia and the United States and US economic aid to Indonesia. They reflected the concerns of America as a minimal hegemon about the decline of its international competitiveness and relative economic power.
