Abstract: This paper introduces the concept of self-determination in the East Timorese struggle for political independence, and then examines the question of economic self-determination, with special focus on the role of the World Bank in East Timor. The paper discusses the Bank's relationship with East Timor's Transitional Administration (under the United Nation's Transitional Authority - UNTAET), and then some new self-determination dilemmas for the politically independent Democratic Republic of East Timor (RDTL). Of particular concern are the new forms of World Bank influence, and the Bank's overt and covert support for privatisation, export driven policy, private monopolies, and an aggravated dual economy.

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