[Marxism] Re: The New Pacific Wall

[Tom O'Lincoln <suarsos@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The article has a lot of useful information, and I think the Pacific is
emerging as a more significant area for us to watch. In the last couple
of weeks there has been an almight tug of war between the governments of
Australia, the Solomons and Papua New Guinea over policing powers. The
Solomons Prime Minister kicked out the Australian High Commissioner
(accusing him of meddling in internal affairs), provoking Australia to
try to get the Solomons Attorney General arrested in PNG. But this was
thwarted by elements in the PNG government, including PM Michael Somare,
who are getting fed up with Australian interference. The guy managed to
get to the Solomons on an unofficial flight.

Australia has an ambitious strategy of trying to place its agents-- and
its citizens including its police officers -- in positions of power
throughout the Pacific. Of which the most significant attemps have been
in the Solomons (successful) and PNG (came unstuck) and of course the
latest intervention in East Timor, during which the Timorese Prime
Minister fell from power.

But a few cautions about the article:

Calling the US, Australian and NZ the "big three" ignores the difference
in power amongst them. The US is really the "big one" anywhere on the
planet. Australia ultimately depends on American backing for its own
pint-sized imperialism. And one level down Australia has considerably
more clout than NZ. There is also an overlap of Australian and NZ
influence, so the carve up into zones has to be approached cautiously.
Meanwhile the article has only one passing reference to France and the
map seems to show Tahiti as part of the NZ zone, but in fact France is a
significant player -- remember those nuclear tests?

Finally, China and Taiwan matter more than just as a source of aid to be
played off against each other. The PRC is now emerging as a more
significant diplomatic rival to the west around the globe, and it
appears that the Australian government is worried about its rising
profile in this region. The tussle in the UN about whether the
"peacekeeping" for in East Timor should be an integrated UN mission or
whether Australia will operate separately seems to be connected to turf
battles in the UN between China and the US/Australia.




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