Confidence-building and conflict reduction in the South Pacific / by Ramesh Thakur.

Abstract

Confidence-building and conflict reduction measures (CBCRMs) are not arms control measures in the conventional sense. Rather, they are instruments intended to inhibit the use of military force for coercion or intimidation by promoting military, economic and political confidence. This paper examines CBCRMs for the South Pacific under these 3 headings. On the military dimension, the South Pacific appears to be free of any realistic threat of invasion, but would not be free of the lethal after-effects of a global nuclear war; regional countries therefore have a vested security interest in trying to avert such a calamity. Security for the South Pacific island states includes also their economic welfare in general, and protection of their fisheries in particular. Politically, while there have been sporadic troubles elsewhere, the two principal zones of conflict are Fiji and New Caledonia. Show more