Ruth Thomas McVey (born October 22, 1930)[1] is an American scholar of Indonesia and Southeast Asia known especially for her writings on Communism and the Indonesian Communist Party.
McVey was part of a cohort of American academics who went to Jakarta to study the national politics of Indonesia starting in 1958; this included also Frederick Bunnell, Dan Lev, and Mary Somers.
[10] They wrote the paper at Cornell by studying newspaper reports coming out of Indonesia, radio broadcasts, and communications with friends who were still in the country.
[9] They finished the report in January 1966; although it was marked "confidential" and only meant to be circulated among colleagues, it was soon being widely reproduced and read by diplomats and even Indonesian army officers.
[9] The paper caused a diplomatic stir; McVey was accused by anti-communists of being sympathetic to the Indonesian Communist Party and Anderson was banned from entering Indonesia.