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the book ‘The New Pacific Diplomacy’, looking at how suc- the resolution’s reference to the 2017 Forum communique,
cessful climate diplomacy by island states had been extended although the language that year was hardly controversial:
to other collective action on the global stage, around oceans, “Leaders recognised the constructive engagement by Forum
fisheries, decolonisation, and other concerns. countries with Indonesia with respect to elections and human
More recently in his blog ‘The Oceania Hypothesis’, former rights in West Papua and Papua and to continue dialogue in
Forum Secretariat advisor Tim Bryar has argued that the vast an open and constructive manner.” Indonesia’s representa-
economic disparities between Pacific island states and Pacific tive also said he regretted that one Forum member continued
Rim partners undercuts the capacity of island states on the to interfere with Indonesia’s domestic affairs, a reference
international stage. Bryar cautions against looking at “the to Vanuatu, which is a proud supporter of the West Papuan
autonomy of the political at the expense of the economic”, independence campaign.
suggesting that island states lack the economic and strate-
gic weight to drive events: “We must challenge the ideology Behind closed doors
of ‘Pacific diplomacy’ that fetishes spaces of Pacific agency There is a long list of topics – climate change, nuclear disar-
thereby masking the failure of Oceania autonomy and sup- mament, decolonisation – where Forum Island Countries differ
porting existing relations of power and privilege.” with their larger development partners, and even with larger
But in David versus Goliath battles, it’s important to use Forum members like Australia and New Zealand.
what assets you have (Goliath foolishly thought he had a In an age when we are supposedly ‘vuvale’, most island
weight advantage and left his slingshot at home). Through politicians and diplomats won’t go on the record about the
AOSIS and the Pacific Small Island Developing States (PSIDS) hard-nosed diplomacy used by Australia and New Zealand
group of UN Ambassadors, Forum Island countries have sought behind closed doors. But every now and then, the mask slips.
strength in numbers, recognising that Small Island Developing At the 2019 Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Tuvalu, prolonged
States make up a quarter of the UN membership. and heated negotiations over the Kainaki Lua Declaration
Drawing on their membership of the G77 and Asia-Pacific on climate policy almost broke down the leaders’ retreat on
group, Pacific diplomats have leveraged their numbers to gain two occasions. After the meeting, Australian Prime Minister
unprecedented positions in the UN architecture. In recent Scott Morrison was publicly criticised by Presidents and Prime
years, Pacific nations have provided a President of the UN Ministers for “discourteous”, “ignorant” and “condescending”
General Assembly, co-hosted a global UNFCCC COP and the behaviour.
first oceans summit, seen a Fijian as the first UN Special Envoy According to former Forum staffer Tim Bryar: “In the case
on the Ocean, secured membership of the UN Human Rights of Scott Morrison…we witness the raw display of power at
Council and more. play in the Pacific. That is, the bold actions of some Pacific
These advances on the international stage, however, have Island leaders temporarily suspended the usual rules of the
been met by pushback from a range of major powers. game, and once this symbolic support for dialogue was gone,
In one example, Nauru, Tuvalu and Solomon Islands success- Morrison was left with nothing but to display the power
fully proposed a decolonisation resolution on French Polyne- underpinning the diplomatic relationship. Nonetheless, this
sia to the UN General Assembly in 2013. As the motion was event where the typical rules of diplomacy were temporarily
adopted, re-inscribing the French dependency on the UN list suspended represented a moment of rupture through which
of non-self-governing territories, France’s Ambassador Gerard existing power relations could begin to be transformed.”
Araud stormed from the UNGA. The French Foreign Ministry These diplomatic tussles will likely continue in post-pan-
denounced the small island states for “high jacking” the demic meetings, with major powers seeking to curry favour
decolonisation process. but also pushing back against island nations that challenge
In August 2019, the Forum chair Nauru proposed a UNGA their broader interests. These disputes increasingly take up
resolution on cooperation between the United Nations and the time and energy at regional meetings, that might be better
Pacific Islands Forum. Although adopted in a recorded vote of allocated to addressing the concerns and interests of Pacific
137 - 0, China, Russia and Indonesia all abstained, while the peoples. After the 2018 Smaller Island States meeting, SIS
United States expressed formal reservations. leaders formally noted that the “increasing complexities of
Remembering the 2018 Forum dispute and President Waqa’s the geopolitical environment as well as the increasing interest
state visit to Taiwan over the summer, China was in no mood of traditional and non-traditional partners in the Blue Pacific
to grant Nauru a clean vote. Explaining their decision, China’s and called for the need to be provided the space and time to
representative stressed that the coordinator of negotiations be able to discuss issues and priorities of shared importance.”
had failed “to consider his delegation’s contributions and the Let’s just hope that Pacific diplomats don’t pick up more
concerns of other States.” Ironically, the United States also bad habits from their counterparts, who have perfected the
criticised the resolution, despite voting for it. The US repre- art of undiplomatic diplomacy. And then there’s the work of
sentative expressed concern about references to the Sendai intelligence officers and defence attaches, but that’s a story
Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the Paris Agree- for another day.
ment on Climate Change in the resolution, reflecting Presi-
dent Trump’s climate denialism. nicmac3056@gmail.com
The Indonesian delegation also abstained, angered by

Islands Business, November 2020 21