The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program That Shaped Our World

As a history buff, I normally prefer to read books about Early Modern Europe to about the beginning of the First World War. However, occasionally, I do enjoy books about the Interwar, Post-World-War-II and Cold War Eras. I'm very glad I chose this book to read when I wanted to find something about the Cold War Era. This book is very well-written and profoundly interesting. Truly, it puts into perspective the nature of Western (mainly US) neocolonialism as it translates into, not necessarily controlling outright foreign territory, but, rather, unduly influencing and meddling in Third World Politics to achieve a more nebulous form of control over those Third World societies. The writer's method of telling this story through the personal experiences of those affected by these social and political upheavals serves to bring this history into sharp focus. Sadly, the more things change the more they stay the same. Just recently, a far-right party (affiliated with a South American group that eerily harkens back to Family, Faith, Property anti-communist movements) just won a majority of seats on a constitutional convention to rewrite Chile's constitution. I highly recommend this work to anyone who wishes to develop a clearer understanding of the US shaping of Third World politics in modern times.

An excellent book. While I believe I have a decent understanding of CIA-backed regime change from Iran (1953) and Guatemala (1954) to the present, Bevins has probably done more to give shape and depth to that understanding than anyone outside of Chomsky and Alfred McCoy.Bevins' account spans the globe, but his core chapters – as well as his main threads from start to finish – focus on U.S. interventions in Indonesia and Brazil in the mid-1960s. This focus is all to the good, for my sense is that even among readers who are familiar with the overthrow of Mossadegh for the Shah, Arbenz for Armas, Allende for Pinochet, the Iran-Contra affair, and so on, may nevertheless have – as I admittedly did – much less familiarity with the U.S.-backed regime changes in Brazil and Indonesia.The broad story in these two countries is much the same as elsewhere: (1) install a military strongman to quash any possibility of communist movements and parties gaining any real power (Cold-War anti-communism was a genuine impetus for most U.S. policy-makers, argues Bevins), while at the same time (2) insisting that the strongman and his military do whatever is necessary to eliminate any impediment to U.S. business interests (of course, (1) and (2) typically fit together like hand in glove).What is NOT the same is this: U.S. "success" in these two countries (ASIDE(!) from the death of over a million innocent civilians) formed a sort of working model & method for the CIA in the years ahead. ALSO, the populations and economies of Brazil and Indonesia completely dwarf, say, El Salvador, or ... Guatemala. This is not to diminish what "we" (CIA-backed death squads) did in smaller countries. But it is to suggest, as Bevins does, the following: had these two countries been left to develop along the independent lines then being pursued, after winning their political independence yet before CIA-derailment, the world we live in today might look VERY different indeed.

Bevin's book is exceptionally well researched. He meticulously relays the story of the transition from decolonization to ephemeral semi-socialist reign to authoritarian developmentalism in most third world nations through survivors' firsthand accounts and their personal and often devastating experiences.The author is true to his journalistic creed; he refrains from over-emphasizing any particular theory, no matter how plausible, if it is largely based on speculations. Where dependable data and declassified records are absent, he is explicit in saying that his account is at best incomplete. This is true, for instance, about the infamous September 30th movement of Indonesia and the rise of the unremarkable General Suharto. What really happened that night and who the schemers were have not been completely understood to this day.The book is replete with some staggering factual revelations about the United States' role, both as an enabler and an accomplice, in the anticommunist crusades of Indochina and South America. It should go without saying, however, that what the United States did in various countries during the cold war was not always done with the purpose of extracting favorable economic benefits; there were those who truly believed that the communism had to be defeated because it was an invasive, expansionist, and tyrannical sociopolitical system. Frank Wisner Jr. said it about his father: "He didn't think he was doing it to help his business buddies back in New York; he thought it was about the cause. For what it is worth, I believe that he believed that".The story ends by reminding readers that the "extermination of communists" in those third world nations did not bring about a transition to a prosperous liberal democracy. To varying degrees, crony capitalism persists and inequality abounds. Many, such as Indonesia itself, have smaller GDP per capita ratios (normalized by that of the United States') today than they did in the 60's. Transition to the developed world simply never occurred and it likely will never occur.

“The Jakarta Method” is one of those rare books that doesn’t just teach you something new — it rearranges how you understand global history and exposes the violence hidden behind the stories we’ve been told.Vincent Bevins uncovers, with painful clarity, how far American imperialism extended during the Cold War. What struck me most is how “anti-communism” functioned less as a real ideological threat and more as a convenient decoy — a moral justification for enforcing U.S. economic and political interests around the world. Once you see this pattern, you can’t unsee it.Reading this as a Brazilian made the book even more unsettling. The parallels are impossible to ignore. The same playbook used in Indonesia — supporting coups, amplifying fear of communism, empowering reactionary elites, and tolerating or enabling mass violence — was also deployed in Latin America. In Brazil, the 1964 military coup fits frighteningly well into the broader architecture Bevins describes: Washington backing a dictatorship under the banner of “protecting democracy,” while in reality suppressing any attempt at a more sovereign, equitable, or independent national project.Brazil’s own path toward industrialisation, resource sovereignty, and developmental progress was abruptly redirected. The coup wasn’t an isolated event — it was part of a global strategy to keep Southern hemisphere nations aligned with U.S. interests and prevent the emergence of alternative models that might challenge Western dominance. And just like in Indonesia, the human cost — the censorship, torture, disappearances, and decades-long impact on society — is still felt today.Bevins connects these dots masterfully. The book shows how countless countries were denied the chance to chart their own futures, punished for daring to envision something more just and independent. And it explains so much about the inequalities and political distortions that persist across the Global South — including Brazil.Uncomfortable, illuminating, and absolutely essential. The Jakarta Method is a reminder that the fight for sovereignty and equity in countries like mine was never just domestic — it was global, and the consequences are still unfolding.

The pro of this is book is the author is very affluent with international politics esp. commie world in SE Asia and South America during the 1960s.The con is, the author is clearly has a bias to left or a leftish :) he doesn't add up many facts from the right wing and military information 'wacca really going on'. Overall, nice addition to history book, but don't make it as your primary book as this book is not too neutral in analyzing world history.

To understand how the CIA operates to destroy democracies and overthrow foreign governments that won’t allow the US to control them, you need to read this book.

Eye opening read about the USA's interference around the world. On balance we've probably done more bad than good.

The Jakarta Method is a compelling narrative, and easy to read. I stayed up until the early morning hours reading it--I could not put it down.The content is heavily based on official declassified documents, research conducted with historians and other experts, and a lot of testimony from firsthand sources. The author refrains from offering his own opinions.This book is a fascinating telling of aspects of the Cold War that I, as an American (even an amateur history buff), did not know.It's important to note that the author does not offer any apologies or sympathy to the atrocities committed by the Soviet and/or Chinese Communist parties.The book is devoted to telling the stories of countries that escaped American mainstream media, but nonetheless are important to understanding our world as it was 70 years ago and how our world is now. The author has done a great service by compiling these intertwined stories to illustrate how the US attained and preserved its spot at the top of the world order.This is the type of far-reaching and gripping story that gets picked up for a Netflix series in the next 10 years.

L'Indonésie se libère des Hollandais en 1949 et jusqu'en 1965 sera le leader des pays non alignés suite à la conférence de Bandung en 1955. Son parti communiste est le troisième plus puissant au monde après l'union soviétique et la Chine. Mais cela dérange Washington qui forme des militaires indonésiens pour un coup d'état et le massacre d'un million de personnes. Au même moment le Brésil devient une dictature militaire anti communiste. De la le livre couvre les décennies de massacres anticommunistes et les conséquences pour le monde d'aujourd'hui. A lire pour comprendre l'histoire de la seconde moitié du 20ème siècle

Arrived in perfect condition, very happy with quality and fascinating book!

An amazingly well researched piece of non-fiction which reads like a thriller

Ao ler o livro me impressiono como a tática do anticomunismo continua sendo utilizada nos dias de hoje. No caso dos EUA não deixa de ser irônico/tragicômico que tenha sido usada e surtido efeito dentro do próprio país que destruiu a democracia em vários países do mundo.

An essential read to understand how the 'cold' war was not cold.