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The boundaries of the contemporary Pacific Islands region were drawn not by the inhabitants of these islands but by the colonial powers that administered them after World War II. Ownership of this region was transferred to the Pacific Islanders both by the process of decolonization and by their increased control of the colonial organization that gave the region its political contours. Unable to complete either process, the independent Island countries created a second association. Yet, even this body was not exclusively an Islander association, and a half-century of tensions has followed in reconciling the consequent geopolitical contradiction. Not all the entities within the region are independent, and yet the independent Island states have wished to maintain a regional identity based on the original, colonial era boundaries. This article shows how much of the contemporary political tensions within the Pacific Islands can be traced back to these contradictions in its regional identity.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION; SOUTH PACIFIC COMMISSION; PACIFIC ISLANDS FORUM; REGIONALISM; REGIONAL IDENTITY
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Political science
Research Field:	Government and politics of Asia and the Pacific
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	International relations
Objective Field:	International relations not elsewhere classified
UTAS Author:	Herr, RA (Associate Professor Richard Herr)
ID Code:	85269
Year Published:	2013
Deposited By:	School of Social Sciences
Deposited On:	2013-06-24
Last Modified:	2014-11-28
Downloads:	28 View Download Statistics