ABSTRACT
Of all the sub-regions in Asia, the South Pacific1 is one of the largest in area, the smallest in populations and territory, and the least examined as an autonomous regional entity. The reasons for this are primarily geographical. The island nations are scattered about the vast expanses of Oceania, and until some decades ago they had little contact with each other, with the other sub-regions in Asia or with the world beyond-except through the Western powers that controlled most of them until independence. Unsurprisingly, the early attempts at regional cooperation were instigated by outside powers. The first product of regional engineering was the South Pacific
Commission (SPC). Created in 1947, it is a paradigmatic case of an international organization originally formed by external powers with possessions in the region (France, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States) in cooperation with New Zealand and Australia. The main purposes of the SPC as laid out in the Canberra Agreement were comprehensive and designed to mitigate some opposition from Pacific members who wanted to expel rather than join the former colonial powers. It includes the objective “to advise and assist the participating governments and territorial administrations in promoting the economic, medical, and social development of the peoples of Oceania.” In 1997 the organization’s name was changed to the Pacific Community, to reflect the expansion of its membership to include also northern Pacific neighbors. The community presently encompasses 22 Pacific island countries and territories and is tasked to provide technical assistance in areas such as health, human development, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. It is headquartered in Noumea, New Caledonia. Despite these efforts at regional cooperation the region experienced
several security problems that hampered further cooperation. Palmer describes the security situation in Oceania after the Second World War as follows:
After World War II, when it was a major combat theater, Oceania became one of the most peaceful as well as one of the least known of the world’s regions; but in recent years, because of the distressful conditions and political instabilities in many of the islands, the increasing activities in the region of outside powers, and disputes with these powers over such important concerns as development assistance, fisheries rights and policies, and nuclear issues, the region has been anything but peaceful.2
