MEDIA RELEASE

30 May 2007

Security in Oceania – engaging track two diplomacy

An international study group established by the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific will present their findings about security in Oceania at a Council meeting in Kuala Lumpur on 4 June.

Peter Cozens, Executive Director of the Council's New Zealand branch that is hosted by the University's Centre for Strategic Studies, says Council members engage in non-governmental discussion.

"The process of track-two diplomacy is where academics and officials in their private capacities look at the problems of other countries from their perspective, and very often these methods of engagement can lead to solutions," Mr Cozens says.

In light of recent escalating tension in some parts of Oceania, the Council requested a specialised study group be established to provide a focused overview of security in the region with implications for the wider Asia-Pacific.

Comprising Council representatives from Australia, China, India, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the United States, the group met in April for two days.

Mr Cozens says several themes arose from the discussions. They concerned the remoteness of island communities, post-colonial difficulties, good governance and capacity building, poverty, demographic growth, natural resource exploitation (particularly fisheries), sustainable development, the negative effects of climate change, aid dependency and how to integrate these small nations into a broader regional engagement with Pacific Asia.

He says the group concurred that these troubles did not appear to be getting worse under current management, despite the recent flare-ups in Fiji, Tonga, and the Solomon Islands.

"The principles of preventive diplomacy should be applied in an orchestrated and strategic fashion to enhance the security of the region," Mr Cozens says.

Items of discussion by the group included:

- Oceania as a source of insecurity to the wider Asia-Pacific region especially in respect of new security issues such as terrorism, competition for natural resources, and environmental issues.
- The role of the Council in assisting in the alleviation of problems created for Oceania by global development – through the provision of analysis, through engagements with regional universities and think-tanks, through the promotion of two-way dialogue between Pacific Asia and Oceania, and by inducing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to recognise the footprint of Oceania in the region.
- How the Council will prepare for the effects of climate change on vulnerable island communities.
- The harmful effects of environmental degradation caused by irresponsible resource extraction, especially logging on some island communities.
- The need for the Council to engage further with colleagues in Oceania and especially with Papua New Guinea.
- The development of an “Oceania Regional Security Architecture Project” – a research project linked to the practice of preventive diplomacy.

http://www.cscap.org/

ENDS

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