ABSTRACT
The islands of the South Pacific have been buffeted by the wave of political change that has swept the globe since the end of the Cold War. For better and for worse, the certainties of the old order have disappeared. On the credit side, the collapse of the Cold War has opened options for relationships that would have been unthinkable in the period of superpower rivalry. Yet these same changes have unleashed nationalistic passions which have proved, in some cases, every bit as dangerous as the tensions of the Cold War. For good or ill, the post-Cold War changes have been not only dramatic but also pervasive, working their way into every corner of the earth including the remotest atolls of the South Pacific.
