{"id":19099,"date":"2015-03-18T14:30:20","date_gmt":"2015-03-18T03:30:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=19099"},"modified":"2015-03-19T12:20:39","modified_gmt":"2015-03-19T01:20:39","slug":"vanuatu-could-operation-pacific-assist-help-reset-regional-cooperation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/vanuatu-could-operation-pacific-assist-help-reset-regional-cooperation\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanuatu: could Operation Pacific Assist help reset regional cooperation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PM<\/a><\/p>\n

As we come to grips with the aftermath of Cyclone Pam<\/a>, Australia\u2019s closely coordinating<\/a> its initial response efforts with a range of capable responders: Britain, France, NZ and the United States. But in the days to come, supporting a Pacific regional response<\/a> as well would have both humanitarian and wider benefits.<\/p>\n

In 2011, Anthony Bergin and Richard Herr warned<\/a> that Australia\u2019s standing in Pacific regional affairs was eroding fast. The bitter intra-regional dispute with Fiji; growth of sub-regional bodies such as the Melanesian Spearhead<\/em>; faltering support for our lead on specific initiatives; frustration with the stalled 2005 Pacific Plan for regional integration; rising influence of non-traditional partners (especially via alternative development models and funding options offered by China); and Island countries choosing to caucus in UN bodies that exclude us, were all harming the sort of collective decision-making and diplomacy that had served South Pacific\u2014and our\u2014interests well for decades.<\/p>\n

After Island leaders endorsed a new Framework for Pacific Regionalism<\/a> as the successor to the Pacific Plan last July, Fiji held a free and fair<\/a> election in September, and the formidable Dame Meg Taylor<\/a> took leadership of the region\u2019s foremost political body\u2014the South Pacific Forum\u2014in November, optimists might have imagined things were looking-up.<\/p>\n

So a fresh warning by another leading Pacific scholar that many neighbouring countries beside Fiji remain deeply dissatisfied with current regional architecture (and our place in it) is a worry. Greg Fry argues<\/a> that Suva\u2019s return to the Forum and the revival of Pacific regionalism are far from assured. He traces the establishment of the Forum in 1971 to Pacific leaders\u2019 struggle to gain control of the technocratic South Pacific Commission (now the Secretariat of the Pacific Community<\/a>) from Australia, France, NZ, the UK and the US. And he suggests Canberra and Wellington need to recapture both the spirit and the formula through which we initially cemented our place in an organisation some intended to exclude former colonial powers. Specifically, we should embrace a \u2018patchwork architecture\u2019 of complementary rather than competing regional organisations; work with neighbours to weave greater coherence and efficiency into such a system, based on a reformed Forum; provide Islanders more space to \u2018chart their own course\u2019 by \u2018stepping-back\u2019 from dominant roles; update Forum funding models to promote a greater sense of ownership; and encourage Island leaders to \u2018step-up\u2019 to more vigorous political debate.<\/p>\n

To my mind, he makes a number of crucial points\u2014especially that the existence of multiple regional bodies has advantages as well as drawbacks for dealing with thorny issues like West Papua<\/a>; that the Forum offers the best basis for revitalised regionalism; and that, to attract followers, Australia must prove it\u2019s a leader that listens<\/a>. But I\u2019m not entirely convinced recapturing the spirit of 1971 is feasible.<\/p>\n

Fiji appears to have moved beyond a \u2018Pacific Way\u2019 doctrine that owed more to the hierarchical, elite-driven and conservative Polynesian<\/a> side of its character than the highly competitive, personalised, and fragmentary rough-and-tumble of its Melanesian<\/a> side. For Australia\u2019s part, we now emphasise economic-cooperation in partnership<\/a> with near neighbours, rather than donor-recipient relationships or the \u2018tough-love\u2019 language of the 2003-07 More Interventionist Approach<\/a> but, in an era when our diplomats are expected to use aid to advance national interest as a matter of policy, it\u2019s hard to imagine our providing the sort of hands-off support we might have 45 years ago.<\/p>\n

As for other neighbours, there may be a sense Australia\u2019s so attuned to Fijian sensitivities it has a tin-ear for wider feelings. There was weak support for, and some strong opposition to, the now indefinitely postponed<\/a> summit Canberra and Suva proposed to discuss regional architecture. \u00a0After all, the New Framework focuses on precisely the issue of Island leaders\u2019 ownership of Pacific regionalism<\/a>. Suva has also offended many usual allies across a range of issues, to the point where it\u2019s probably more isolated than Canberra.<\/p>\n

It would, however, be a mistake to regard the current impasse with any satisfaction or as a signal to resume business as usual. PM Bainimarama is unlikely to turn up at the next Forum leaders\u2019 meeting in Port Moresby without some form of healing first. And although the level of friction between most members of the Forum can be overstated, a Forum without Fiji looks like ASEAN without Indonesia<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If the politics make summitry unworkable, perhaps we need to look to practical avenues for reviving habits of cooperation. Here, Cyclone Pam\u2019s devastation of Vanuatu and damage to Tuvalu, Kiribati, and Solomon Islands may offer a circuit-breaker, as Fijian participation in a Forum-led regional response to such a shared tragedy could hardly be criticised. It\u2019d be consistent with past calls for regional peacekeeping and disaster-response capabilities that, although impractical as a standing force<\/a>, would be useful on an as-required basis. Given the level of destruction, even members who could contribute only manpower would be able to assist with reconstruction and community assistance. Australia and Fiji could each<\/a> offer expertise and leadership without tussling for control. A regional response would also spur exchange on difficult climate change and labour mobility issues.<\/p>\n

A restored Pacific regional settlement would have significant human-security benefits, including resilience in one of the world\u2019s most disaster-prone regions. Those wanting to contribute to relief efforts on a personal level can consider various sites including this<\/a> one.<\/p>\n

Karl Claxton<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is an analyst at ASPI. Image courtesy of Flickr user United Nations Photo<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we come to grips with the aftermath of Cyclone Pam, Australia\u2019s closely coordinating its initial response efforts with a range of capable responders: Britain, France, NZ and the United States. 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