Establishing U.S. foreign policy involves making an unending series of decisions about which governments to treat as allies, which to oppose, when to intervene (and in what ways) and when to stay home. These decisions can be exceptionally complex when authoritarian leaders who support U.S. political and/or economic goals also commit atrocities against their own people. That was the case in 1965, when the Indonesian government killed an estimated 1 million of its citizens in the name of fighting communism.

The Indonesian genocide is examined in Joshua Oppenheimer’s Academy Award®-nominated documentary The Look of Silence. In this lesson, using clips from the film, students will practice listening, reading and research skills as they examine this part of Indonesian-U.S. history. Then they will use what they learn to evaluate American relationships with current allies accused of human rights violations.

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