Security Trends in the South Pacific: Vanuatu and Fiji
Abstract
Although the South Pacific island nations are very small and undeveloped, their location astride routes that are strategically important to the United States magnifies their significance. In the last two decades, however, the goodwill of most islanders toward the United States and the West has declined. Anti-Western attitudes have grown out of changing institutions and organizations, encouraged by foreign advocates and fostered by churches, labor unions, anticolonial groups, and the antinuclear movement. In many cases, advocates connected with one or more of these groups have merged their causes in an effort to spread an overall anti-Western and anti-United States gospel. In recent years, the Soviet Union has gained goodwill in the area with little expenditure of resources. Soviet representatives visiting the area advocate peace, a nuclear-free Pacific, the reduction of all military forces in the area, and the abolition of foreign bases. The United States and the West should take countervailing steps to retrieve the goodwill that they have lost. Ameliorative measures might include increased aid, assistance to labor unions, and aid to education. They should counter the anti-Western rhetoric with positive information about the West and above all, increase official interest and exchanges with the islanders. (jhd)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA216635
Entities
People
- Eleanor S. Wainstein
- George K. Tanham
Organizations
- RAND Corporation