[TimorLesteStudies] Timor-Leste: The History and Development of Asia's Newest Nation

Tue Feb 9 03:21:56 AEDT 2016

Dear Friends of Timor-Leste,

I would like to bring to your kind attention to a book I co-authored with
economist,Takako Hamaguchi, a former UNICEF economist titled "Timor-Leste:
The History and Development of Asia's Newest Nation" . The foreword of the
book was written by the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and former President of
Timor-Leste, Dr. Jose Ramos Horta who was also recently the Chair of the UN
Secretary-General's High Level Panel on Peace Operations.

 The book gives an account of how Timor-Leste was able to navigate from
conflict to recovery to development since the restoration of its
independence in May 2002. The book also presents some best practices and
lessons that could be learned from Timor-Leste's experience by the
countries in crisis and post-conflict countries and also international
development partners including NGOs/CSOs  The book provides the economic
history of Timor-Leste, and issues such as right to development, investment
with natural resources endowments, agriculture and food security,
empowering the vulnerable, mitigating and adapting to climate change,
implementing the MDGs, partnering with the world community and building the
foundation of modern Timor-Leste.

Also we received pre-publication reviews for the book from
Dr. Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development
at Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Professor
Patrick Guillaumont, Universitie d'Auvergne and former member of the United
Nations Committee for Development Policy; Professor Victor Savage,
University of Singapore; Ambassador Jamsheed Marker, former Special
Representative of the UN Secretary-General for East Timor; Ms. Ameerah Haq,
former Under-Secretary-General of UN/DFS;and Professor John Steffens of the
University of Oklahoma, USA.

The book was launched by the United Nations Department of Public
Information at the UN Headquarters in the presence of the former Foreign
Minister and former Finance Minister of Timor-Leste followed by a  Panel
Discussion on "Timor-Leste".

 This book on the "Newest Nation of Asia" will be of great interest to
international policymakers, private sector,academic
community,and NGOs/CSOs. International development partners have played a
very important role with the United Nations in the socio-economic
development of Timor-Leste.

I'm attaching a flyer of the book from the Lexington Book Publishers, USA,
which gives brief information on the book. It is available on: Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Timor-Leste-History-Development-Newest-Nation/dp/0739191209
and
Kindle.

You may also wish to pass the information on this new publication to your
colleagues and friends.

With Kind Regards.

Yours Sincerely.

Abraham Joseph Ph.D.
Senior International Strategic Advisor (Infopoverty)
Public Service Institute
University of Oklahoma, USA

Former Special Advisor to the Foreign Minister of
Timor-Leste

Former Chief/Senior Socio-Economic Affairs Adviser
United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste

Post Box 4462
New York
N.Y. 10163

Tel: 347-417-6444
E-Mail: ajabrahamj at gmail.com
Editorial Reviews
Review
Timor-Leste provides most interesting insights into the political history
that led to the birth of the country as an independent nation. . . .The
authors have chronicled the development of Timor-Leste in a highly readable
form. Beyond those interested in learning about the development
of Timor-Leste in the twelve years since its independence, the book will be
useful for national leaders, development planners, policy makers and those
in international organizations working in post-conflict countries seeking
to give advice by way of example. No country’s journey ever ends, so it
will be interesting to follow Timor-Leste’s development to 2030. This book
provides a baseline for putting in perspective what is to come. (
*AFICSBulletin*)

Abraham Joseph and Takako Hamaguchi . . . have deeply analyzed the economic
development of Timor-Leste from the very beginning and its impact on every
fabric of society. By providing a glowing tribute to the nations adeptness
in governance, its policy framework, organizational efficacy, and its
continuance in adopting a systematic approach to address its structural and
institutional bottlenecks, the authors highlight the commitment, resolve,
resilience and determination of the governing body to lift the nation out
of poverty. . . .With in-depth knowledge and valuable insights into the
various aspects of the economy in the past, present and future, obstacles,
challenges, goals and opportunities, and its response to climate change,
the reader will gain an understanding of the progress of the modern nation
in its realization of its right to development and achievement of all the
eight Millennium Development Goals. (*MediaGlobal News*)

This book is a rich source of lessons for many small nations around the
world struggling to harness their natural resources for the improvement of
their people. It is not just thatTimor-Leste is a new nation; it is even
more important that it is a smart nation judging from the innovations it
has put in its constitutions and the institutions that it has created to
help advance the welfare of its people. This book is a powerful testimony
of how a new nation can rise from tragedy to triumph by adopting smart
development policies and institutions. (Calestous Juma, Harvard University)

The authors have examined, with the trained and clinical eyes of fine
economists, the entire fabric of Timor-Leste’s socio economic structure,
from natural resource investment to climate change, from food and
agriculture to the empowerment of the vulnerable, and to the implementation
of the millennium development goals. There is a wealth of statistics,
garnered with circumspection and presented with clarity, which support the
authors’ overall contention of a devastated country in the process of
recovery, and a realistic assessment of assets, both current and potential,
particularly in respect of oil and gas in the Timor Sea. (Jamsheed Marker,
former Personal Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for
East Timor and author of East Timor: a Memoir of the Negotiations for
Independence (2003))

Timor-Leste: The History and Development of Asia’s Newest Nation offers a
fresh perspective on Timor-Leste's extraordinary journey over the past
decade. (Ameerah Haq, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Field
Support and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste)

This book is a must read for anyone interested in
understanding Timor-Leste and will be in years to come the benchmark of
future studies on the country. (Victor Savage, National University of
Singapore)

The book of Abraham Joseph and Takako Hamaguchi is highly welcome. It gives
an incomparable analysis of the challenge successfully faced
by Timor-Leste as a new and fragile state. …It is to be hoped that thanks
to this book other fragile states will break the vicious circle of state
fragility as done
by Timor-Leste. (Patrick Guillaumont, Universitéd'Auvergne, former member
of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy)

Joseph and Hamaguchi, expertly, professionally, and credibly, describe the
history and the current realities of Timor-Leste. They go on to present the
information from which potential collaborative blueprints for the near
future of this new dynamic nation may be drawn upon as it progresses into
in its second decade—a decade expected to match or even exceed the
development of the first decade. (John E. Steffens, University of Oklahoma)

The book co-authored by Abraham Joseph and Takako Hamaguchi Timor-Leste:
The History and Development of Asia's Newest Nation is an excellent
contribution in the area of post-conflict studies - the emergence of a
country from total destruction at the time of its independence and within a
decade moves from recovery to enter the development phase. It is a true
testament to what can be realized when government and people come together
to help rebuild a country that is not afraid of taking the reigns to
establish itself as a stronger nation, thereby building a better future for
its people. It is a must read for policymakers, academics, the private
sector and NGOs/CSOs. (Afaf Konja, Spokesperson for the President of the
United Nations General Assembly 68th Session)
About the Author
Abraham Joseph has held various senior-level positions at the United
Nations, including the head of the Office of Socioeconomic Affairs in the
UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste. He also served as a senior advisor
to Timor-Leste’s foreign minister.

Takako Hamaguchi worked for UNICEF for sixteen years before starting her
own international development and cooperation consultancy firm.

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