to gain?

The Pacific Basin Project: Who stands to gain?

The Emerging Pacific Com munity: A Regional Perspec tive. Edited by Robert L Dow ner and Bruce J. Dickson. Pub lished by Westuiew Press, Colorado, USA, and supplied in Britain by Bowker Pub lishing Company, Epping, Essex. 24 sp. ISBN 0 86531864 6. Price £20.75.

The proceedings of a confer ence (such as provides the text of this book) may not at first glance offer promise of an interesting volume. But when the book is about an idea, not about a conference, the result can be valuable.

Little is said about the confer ence, or the interaction of its participants, and so on. All we are told is that it was a gather ing held in Washington D.C. in late 1983 of some 200 scholars and others from 16 nations to assess progress and prospects of the Pacific regional commun ity concept. This forum marked a major milestone in three years of research into the Pacific Basin Project, by the U.S.based Centre for Strategic and

International Studies.

What follows is a collection of addresses given by eminent persons from the Pacific rim countries, which, taken as a whole, offer a valuable view of both the problems and the opportunities presented by the idea of a formalised Pacific community.

The keynote comes from for mer Australian PM, Malcolm Fraser, the delegate with the greatest governmental experi ence. He is both practical and visionary, leaving no doubt about his own intense support for the community idea. He proposes a new code on pro tection to cover industrial goods and services: “The first element in the code would be a total and absolute commitment on the part of any signatory not to raise protection of any form direct, indirect, legal or “illegal” against any other signatory 95 He goes on; “There are times in the history of states, of nations, and, indeed, of the world when the timely act of

great and farsighted people can move the course of history for the better... I believe there are very real sensitivities in the world at present. . . and that is one reason why I quite un ashamedly use this particular forum to make a plea to those in a position of authority and power to do what they can to see that we do not repeat the mistakes of earlier times. Let the Pacific states build a great community of nations and give governments the wisdom and the strength to overcome the difficulties. ”

As the dialogue develops, many different viewpoints are offered, each naturally depen ding on the background of its giver. Some delegates from ASEAN countries are apprehensive about something that might over-shadow their hard-won regional unit. They want “assurance and credible guarantees that the proposed Pacific Community (1) is not a camouflaged anti-Communist or simply anti-Soviet group. (2) is not a subtle device to split the ASEAN countries from the rest of the developing world ... (3) will not manoeuvre ASEAN countries into a relationship of dependency on the United States and Japan ...”

Others are concerned about the question of membership.

Would China and the Soviet Union be included? Difficulties are foreseen whether the answer is yes or no.

Concern is expressed by some about the motives of those who are the strongest advocates of the community concept in particular the USA. What do they really want it for? Trade benefits? Security reasons? Unspoken but evident is the suspicion that the U.S. is supportive because that coun try itself stands to gain.

Here surely is exposed the hub of the matter which is touched on by surprisingly few delegates. No community just as no family can function properly if self-interest is the prime motivation for each member. There has to be a wider vision of what the com munity would exist for. One aim expressed which just might be big enough to unite such a disparate group of nations is “to tackle questions in the North- South debate.”

Perhaps the major weakness of the book (and of the confer ence) is that it does not offer a single South Pacific island view.

Only one delegate, Roniti Teiwaki of Kiribati (representing the University of the South Pacific) was even present; but his utterances, if any, are not recorded. The New Zealand and Australian delegates do their best to fill the gaps, but it is insufficient. It seems preposter ous that the insights and im aginative contribution of the Pacific islands are ignored.

Much of the book is con cerned with specific detailed aspects of the subject. But on the whole it avoids falling into the kind of super-fine detail which makes all but the super specialist feel decidedly drowsy.

Even the language is relatively free from jargon, the one not able exception being a Cana dian academic who stupefies one with sentences such as this: “The basic rules to guide the structuring of a regional collec tive decision-making system will have to orient the interactions of the participating govern ments toward collaborative measures in the common in terest. ”

This is an important book because it deals with an impor tant issue. It offers a good amount of input for those con cerned with the question of the future of the Pacific nations as a community of interests and that ought to be most of us.

Edward Peters.