Australian Reporting of the Indonesian Killings of 1965–66: The Media as the “First Rough Draft of History”

This article examines Australian press coverage of the Indonesian killings of 1965–66, and considers its legacy for the historical consciousness of events in Indonesia. The Indonesian killings of 1965–66 occurred on Australia's doorstep, at a time when the Cold War dominated the front pages of Australian newspapers. By examining articles from one of Australia's leading newspapers, The Sydney Morning Herald, we show that press coverage of the killings was both limited and distorted. Comments made by correspondents reporting from Indonesia at the time suggest reasons why this was the case. In the rush to write a “first rough draft of history”, the killings in Indonesia were treated as background to the story of leadership change in Jakarta and the defeat of Communism.     

Paying for grades: Impact of merit‐based financial aid on educational quality

In contrast to education reform efforts that target teachers and schools, merit‐based financial aid for college increases the incentives for high school students and their families to directly affect the quality of education by investing more time and effort in schoolwork. Large‐scale merit‐based aid programs, such as Georgia's HOPE Scholarship, seek to improve education by encouraging students to meet higher standards, in this case by obtaining a 3.0 grade point average in high school and college. Since the HOPE program began in 1993, the number of high school graduates qualifying for the aid has steadily increased to more than 38,000 graduates in the class of 1998, or 59.5 percent of the graduating class. At the same time, the relationship between grades and achievement has remained consistent or, in some cases, improved since HOPE began. In fact, African–American males and females with a 3.1 high school core course grade point average have increased their average Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) scores by more than 20 points. This indicates that merit‐based aid has improved the quality of K–12 education in Georgia and reduced racial performance disparities by motivating students and their families to commit greater effort to schooling. © 2002 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.     

Review

Richard Abraham, Alexander Kerensky: The First Love of the Revolution, London: Sidgwick & Jackson, 1987, xxii + 503 pp. £20.00.

R. F. Miller et al. eds. Gorbachev at the Helm: A New Era in Soviet Politics? London: Croom Helm, 1987, viii + 251 pp., £30.00.

Mervyn Matthews, Poverty in the Soviet Union: The Life‐Styles of the Underprivileged in Recent Years. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1986, xv + 227 pp., £22.40 h/b £7.95 p/b.

Angus Roxburgh, PRAVDA: Inside the Soviet News Machine. London: Gollancz, 1987, 285 pp., £16.95.

Cynthia S. Kaplan, The Party and Agricultural Crisis Management in the USSR, Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 1987, xvi + 203 pp., $30.75.     

Reviews

Paul Welfens, Market‐oriented Systemic Transformations in Eastern Europe. Heidelberg and New York: Springer Verlag, 1992, 261 pp., DM120.00.

Jan Winiecki & Andrzej Kondratowicz, eds, The Macroeconomics of Transition: Developments in East Central Europe. London and New York: Routledge, 1993, ix + 154 pp., £35.00.

Roman Frydman, Andrzej Rapaczynski, John S. Earle, et al., The Privatisation Process in Central Europe. CEU Privatisation Report, Volume 1; Roman Frydman, Andrzej Rapaczynski, John S. Earle, et al. The Privatisation Process in Russia, Ukraine and the Baltic States. CEU Privatisation Report, Volume 2. Oxford: Oxford University Press/CEUP, 1993, xiii + 262 pp. (Volume 1), xiii + 276 pp. (Volume 2), £30.00 h/b, £10.00 p/b.

Alexander Dallin, ed., Political Parties in Russia. Berkeley, CA: International and Area Studies, University of California at Berkeley, 1993, x+ 102 pp., $10.95.

John Lowenhardt, James R. Ozinga & Erik van Ree, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Politburo. London: ULC Press, 1992, xix + 244 pp., £30.00.

James R. Millar, ed., Cracks in the Monolith: Party Power in the Brezhnev Era. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharp, 1992, xv + 245 pp., $49.95.

A. J. Motyl, ed., Thinking Theoretically about Soviet Nationalities. History and Comparison in the Study of the USSR. New York: Columbia University Press, 1992, vii + 284 pp., No price.

Coit D. Blacker, Hostage to Revolution: Gorbachev and Soviet Security Policy, 1985–1991. New York: Council on Foreign Relations Press, 1993, xvii + 239 pp., $16.95.

Peter G. Boyle, American‐Soviet Relations: From the Russian Revolution to the Fall of Communism. London and New York: Routledge, 1993, xiv + 321 pp., £40.00 h/b, £12.99 p/b.

Jan S. Adams, A Foreign Policy in Transition: Moscow's Retreat from Central America and the Caribbean 1985–1992. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 1992, 248 pp., $39.95 h/b, $14.95 p/b.

Loren R. Graham, Science in Russia and the Soviet Union. A short history. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993, x + 321 pp., £30.00, $49.95.

Bohdan Krawchenko, ed., Ukrainian Past, Ukrainian Present. London: Macmillan, 1993, xii+133 pp., £35.00.

Anatol Lieven, The Baltic Revolution—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and the Path to Independence. New Haven, CT, and London: Yale University Press, 1993, xxv + 454 pp., £22.50.

Romuald Misiunas & Rein Taagepera, The Baltic States: Years of Dependence 1940–1990. London: C. Hurst & Co., 1993, xv + 400 pp., £35.00 h/b, £12.95 p/b.

Dirk Philipsen, We Were the People: Voices from East Germany's Revolutionary Autumn of 1989. Durham, NC, and London: Duke University Press, 1993, xiv + 417 pp., £47.45 h/b, £16.95 p/b.

Patrick Artisien, Matija Rojec & Marjan Svetli?i?, eds, Foreign Investment in Central and Eastern Europe. Basingstoke and London: Macmillan, 1993, xiv + 206 pp., £40.00.

Stanley Moore, Marx versus Markets. University Park, PA: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993, x + 126 pp., $22.50.

Eero Loone, Soviet Marxism and Analytical Philosophies of History, Translated by Brian Pearce. London and New York: Verso, 1992, xvii + 280 pp.

Ralph C. Elwood, Inessa Armand: Revolutionary and Feminist. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, xi + 304 pp., £49.95, £29.95.     

Pseudoscience and Minority Religions: An Evaluation of the Brainwashing Theories of Jean-Marie Abgrall

An analysis of Jean-Marie Abgrall's cultic brainwashing theory shows that the theory is essentially identical to the pseudoscientific theory that was developed first by the American CIA as a propaganda device to combat communism, and second as an ideological device for use by the American anti-cult movement to rationalize efforts at persecution and control of minority religious groups. The CIA theory has been evaluated scientifically in research in several contexts (i.e., communist coercive indoctrination of Western prisoners, the CIA's attempted development of brainwashing techniques, and with American new religions or cults). In each context, it has been shown to be ineffective in coercively changing worldviews. Because of this pattern of disconfirmation, testimony based on brainwashing theory has been opposed as unscientific by relevant professional academic organizations and repeatedly excluded from American legal trials. Consequently, neither legal decisions nor public policy with respect to minority religions should be based on Abgrall's appropriation of this pseudoscientific theory.