ABSTRACT
The integration of Papua into Indonesia can be described as traumatic. Unlike the integration of many other territories into their "natural" mainland, where the principal players constitute of the colonizing countries, the colonized territories and its motherland, the integration of Papua into Indonesia involved a large cast of countries. There were two central aims of the Indonesian government's policies in Papua. The first was the formation of Indonesian nationalist identity in Papuan society, the second was to obtain national income from the resources found on Papua's soil. While Jakarta is prepared to undertake various programs to appease the Papuans, no one will be prepared to undertake any policy that will result in the secession of Papua. Jakarta's position on this is non-negotiable and as long as Papuans are contemplating the possibility of independence, either through war or peace, the ties between the two are unlikely to bind.
