The Berkeley Mafia was the term given to a group of American-educated economists in Indonesia who were given technocratic positions under the Suharto dictatorship during the late 1960s. They were appointed in the early stages of the New Order administration. Their work focused on promoting free-market capitalism in Indonesia and reversing many of the progressive economic reforms that had been introduced by the Sukarno government. The Berkeley Mafia, like the Suharto dictatorship itself, aligned with the United States during the Cold War. The group included Widjojo Nitisastro, Mohammad Sadli, Emil Salim, J. B. Sumarlin, and Ali Wardhana. Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti who graduated later from Berkeley is also sometimes included as a member of this group. Origins In the mid-1950s, the economists who would become the Berkeley Mafia were students at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Indonesia (FEUI). The faculty was headed by Sumitro Djojohadikusumo, an economist who had served as Minister of Trade and Industry and Minister of Finance for the Government. Sumitro was the only teacher with an economics doctorate and so had to turn to foreign lecturers from the Netherlands and lecturers from other faculties to assist in educating the students at FEUI. As tensions grew between Indonesia and the Dutch government over West Irian (now known as West Papua), Dutch lecturers began to leave the country. Sumitro turned to the Ford Foundation for assistance. The Ford Foundation then began a process by which students from the FEUI were chosen to undertake overseas studies at the University of California, Berkeley. After the Ford Foundation had conducted some preliminary preparations, the overseas studies program began in 1957. By the early 1960s, all of the students who had been sent abroad had returned from Berkeley and had begun taking up positions as lecturers at the Army Staff and Command College (SESKOAD). In 1966, General Suharto took over executive control in Indonesia from President Sukarno in a coup by virtue of Supersemar. Although he would not formally become president for another two years, Suharto began laying down the foundations for what would become the New Order regime. In late August 1966, Suharto held a seminar at SESKOAD to discuss political and economic matters and the way in which the New Order would approach those problems. The FEUI economists, headed by Widjojo Nitisastro, attended the seminar. During the seminar, the economists set out their ideas and policy recommendations. Their presentation