Eddie Walsh

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) was established in 1979 as the international community’s single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum. The CD and its predecessors have negotiated a number of major multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. However, in recent years, the CD has been unable to make progress against its own schedule as a great debate over what to prioritize – counter-proliferation or disarmament – has divided its 65 members. This has led to new efforts to revitalize the CD so that it can move forward with its disarmament agenda.

Unfortunately, the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are not CD members and thus not directly represented within these debates. Nevertheless, the PICs retain important national security interests in the outcome of the CD proceedings. Human security in the Pacific Islands is clearly tied to the mitigation of global high-end security threats, including those posed by emerging Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Robotics, and Information and Communications (NBRIC) technologies and more traditional Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons. For this reason, it is important for PICs to possess the diplomatic capacity required to assess whether developments within the CD advance or impede their national security interests and intervene in international discourse on counter-proliferation and disarmament issues when necessary.

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The Pacific Islands Society recognizes that the rich cultural tapestry of the Pacific Islands region is producing talented young Pacific artists. Unfortunately, a lack of awareness for their work is preventing them from realizing their full potential on the world stage.

The Pacific Islands Society is therefore calling on young artists to submit portfolios of their work. Successful applicants will then have selected works from their portfolio featured on the Pacific Islands Society blog alongside a brief profile of the artist and contact information for how the artist can be reached.

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The Pacific Islands Society has launched a new Pacific Security Scholars Program. The program provides post-graduate and research degree students from Pacific Island Countries will an opportunity to make their voice heard on the important issue of “International Security and the Pacific Islands.”

Selected scholars will be asked to contribute to the ongoing debate of international security by producing regular articles and opinion pieces on directed issues for publication on the Pacific Islands Society’s blog. This will provide these scholars with the opportunity to have their perspective presented alongside the region’s senior diplomatic staff, who recently shared their own opinions on the topic.

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asiapacificreporting:

Is the United States upping its diplomatic engagement in the Pacific? One would think given rumors that U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is considering heading to the Cook Islands for next month’s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). The problem: Her attendance could send the wrong message to regional partners; thereby undermining U.S. influence in the Pacific.

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Image Credit: U.S. Department of State (Official)

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Reblogged from asiapacificreporting

Ambassador Winston Thompson provides his perspective on the small state - large state dynamic at play in Australia - Fiji relations. One of his main points: The lesson learned for Pacific Island countries is that they must caucus together as small states to maximize their power and influence in the international system.

Image Credit: U.S. Air Force

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asiapacificreporting:

The vast majority of the world’s small states are the developing small island stateswhich dot the Pacific and are far removed from major regional centers. Profoundly dependent on tourism and primary export crops, these states are particularly vulnerable to fluctuations in the global economy. As a result, many are heavily dependent ondevelopment aid and emergency assistance. In return, Australia and its allies have carved out a sphere of influence in the Pacific which has gone unchallenged for decades.

With the rise of China, however, cracks are starting to form in Australia’s regional dominance. The Pacific island nations have discovered a new source of development assistance to offset their traditional dependence on Western aid. And although the Chinese approach has its weaknesses, its extensive loan programs pose a serious long-term challenge to Australian power and influence in the Pacific. To make matters worse, the region’s small states may be experiencing a delayed shift in their strategic cultures, which could push certain countries away from their traditional ties with Australia.

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Reblogged from asiapacificreporting

Given the importance to the region of democracy - including to other Pacific governments wary of the role of their militaries and other disciplined forces - this process of normalization can only be completed after elections of a reasonable standard have taken place. 

“Fiji’s influence in the region (and internationally) has undoubtedly been diminished by the past half decade of military rule. The balance of power in the region is moving, in general terms, from Polynesia to Melanesia - and Papua New Guinea has filled some of the vacuum left by Fiji’s absence in regional forums in the past several years. Despite Fijian attempts at a ‘divide and rule’ strategy within the region, Pacific Island countries have remained generally quite united behind the proposition that relations with Suva will only be fully normalized under conditions of a return to civilian rule. Whether this loss of Fijian influence will be reversed in coming years is hard to gauge (though Fiji’s role as a geographical and transport hub would argue for the positive on this).”

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“It seems fairly clear now that there will be elections of some description in Fiji in 2014. The real question is the extent to which those elections meet minimal international standards for being free and fair. Crucial to answering that question is seeing whether everyone is allowed to compete, and the media and civil society are able to operate in a minimally unimpeded manner. “