Since the fall of President Suharto in May 1998, Indonesia has undergone a paradoxical change. Although a real political liberalization can be seen, notably by the return to a multi-party system, as officially confirmed by the elections held on June 7, 1999, the decline of the State machinery and the failure to subordinate military power to civilian power are not cause for concern. It is true that the accession of Megawati Sukarnoputri as head of State on July 23, after Abdurrahman Wahid had been removed from office by Parliament, took place in a context of remarkable calm (although the constitutional legality of the procedure was not entirely clear). However, the accession to power of an ultra-nationalist front that brings together the PDI-P and the national army is no guarantee of a reduction in violence in the archipelago, but quite the contrary. In Aceh and Western Papua, the operations conducted against separatist movements have already justified the national mobilization of the military machine once again.