Learning From East Timor.(Brief Article)

East Timor is still more an idea than a reality--surviving, for the moment, on the kindness of friends. A former Portuguese colony forcibly annexed by Indonesia in 1975, the tiny state became independent in May- -the first new country of the new millennium. Last month it joined the United Nations, which is a huge step for a fragile country struggling to stabilize and define itself.

Jose Ramos-Horta, East Timor's foreign minister and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, believes the media, in a sense, created his nation. In the aftermath of the Indonesian invasion, an estimated 200,000 people died in East Timor (out of a population of less than 700,000), and the world was largely silent. "We did not make it into the prime-time news of global television because there was no global television at the time," recalls Ramos-Horta. By the 1990s, things had changed. The Internet and 24-hour news programming were realities. And as the struggle for independence intensified, scenes of destruction from East Timor ignited concern around the globe. Without that media spotlight, "we would still be fighting," says Ramos-Horta.

But East Timor is much more than a testament to the power of the media. It is also (or so the United Nations would like to believe) a powerful argument for multilateralism and a monument to the beauty of nation- building. In reality, the task of building an independent East Timor is far from over. But what the United Nations has accomplished so far is impressive. It oversaw the violence-marred ballot for independence and then moved in, with peacekeeping troops, to oversee the transition. That has meant everything from training Timorese in law, administration and the details of democracy to helping devise policies for dealing with former collaborators. It has meant, in short, constructing a foundation, both physical and political, that has a chance of surviving the United Nations' departure.

In his 100th-day address last month, President Xanana Gusmo passionately appealed for patience. Three months was not enough time to make a nation work, he said. It will take six months, he subsequently told me, to ascertain whether the government is on the right path.

Gusmo is sometimes called the Nelson Mandela of East Timor. A thoughtful man with a forgiving heart, he wrestles with how to help his country heal from violence. One of his first official acts was to recommend amnesty for many of those who had wreaked havoc during the fight over East ...