Hegemonialer Interventionismus oder humanitäre Stabilisierung? Die Entwicklung der australischen Pazifikpolitik zur pazifischen Integration

Abstract

Since the first coups took place in Fiji in 1987, the South Pacific has become an ever more precarious region. In Australia’s eyes, the arc of instability in Melanesia is the main reason for concern. After the attacks in Bali in 2002, the contemporary government of Prime Minister John Howard decided to change the hands-off approach adopted until then and instead take a hands-on approach to the Pacific. This seems a new step, but in fact it was only a policy shift and not a shift of paradigms in Australia's Pacific policy. In this essay the author attempts to show that Australia has only intensified its old policy by using co-operative interventionism and instruments of a shared sovereignty. In the course of this kind of interventionism, Australia has underlined its position as a leading country in the region. As a result, Australia is responsible for the restructuring of the regional economic system and the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). The next step is the so-called Pacific Plan, which is changing the region in an integrated way due to the Pacific Forum being restructured. Australia's security and economical interests in the South Pacific appear neo-colonial to many Pacific islands leaders for this reason.