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Countering Soviet Inroads in the South Pacific
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10346 |
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Section : |
Current Issues
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| Issue
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12 / 1986 |
3,073 Words |
| Author
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Ben Blaz
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A largely unheralded U.S. fishing treaty with the South Pacific--as unlikely as it may seem--was a significant victory in the superpower rivalry that has been stirring up the placid waters of the region. Signed by U.S. representatives in October 1986, the $60 million, five-year package removed a festering sore spot in U.S. relations with the 13 nations of the South Pacific Forum.
The agreement coincided--almost to the day--with a regional setback for the Soviet Union, which lost its toehold in the central Pacific Republic of Kiribati when that nation turned down a Soviet offer to extend and enlarge a controversial fishing pact.
While good news for the U.S. effort to improve relations with the South Pacific, these developments are not cause for either rejoicing or relaxing. They merely emphasize that the era of unchallenged American goodwill in the region has ended.
The South Pacific became the newest arena of superpower rivalry when the Soviet Union recently decided to play on islanders' fears and resentment, trying to exploit problems in the United States' relations with these traditional U.S. allies.
Seeking to become players in a region where they have no historical or genuine commercial interests, the Soviets are trying to create a diplomatic presence, poison U.S. commercial and political relations with the islands through so-called fishing pacts, and bankroll the spread of nuclear-free fallacies.
The Soviets' goal is strategic advantage--to undercut U.S. vital interests and expand their influence by gaining economic and political leverage. These initiatives are part of the Soviet Union's overall aim of becoming a major player in Asia and the Pacific--a policy Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev reaffirmed as recently as August 1986 in a major policy address in Vladivostok, the center of Soviet power in East Asia.
The Soviets are capitalizing on several trends in the region: the rise in nationalistic/anti-colonial sentiment; the spread of "nuclear-free Pacific" fervor; resentment over disputes with U.S. commercial fishermen; and anger over French nuclear and colonial policies.
The Soviet tactics threaten major pillars of U.S. strategic interests in the Pacific Basin: promotion of regional security, protection of the sea lines of communication that carry most of the free world's trade, and denial of the area to hostile powers.
The stakes are substantial, including the right of passage and port entry for the nuclear-equipped vessels of the U.S. Navy; the U.S. alliance structure in the Pacific and southeast Asia; access to the resources of Oceania, southeast Asia, and the Indian Ocean; and American prestige as it enters the century of the Pacific.
There are actually two problems confronting the United States in the South Pacific: the long-term Soviet challenge and the current trend of the island governments to flirt with the communist superpower.
The first half of the equation is easiest to understand. Soviet leaders want to become
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