DEMOCRACY, SECURITY AND HEGEMONIC RIVALRY IN MELANESIA

                       DEMOCRACY, SECURITY AND HEGEMONIC RIVALRY IN MELANESIA

The article surveys the political scene in the Melanesian Pacific region and highlights the intense stratagic rivalry that pits the United States and its allies, Australia and New Zealand, against the People’s Republic of China. The latter has expanded its sphere of influence in the area, particularly in the Solomon Islands and Fiji, prompting Quad member-nations to increase their assistance to, and presence in Melanesia as part of their Free and Open Indo-Pacific policy

ZOLTAN BARANY

The island states of the South Pacific—composed of three regions, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia—seldom engage democracy scholars. Aside from the four Melanesian countries they have tiny populations and territories, and most have been consolidated democracies since they became independent in the late 1970s and 80s. The four Melanesian countries are set apart not only by their larger territories and populations but also by their growing strategic significance in the great power competition unfolding in the South Pacific. Among them, the Solomon Islands, the only sizable Pacific Island state on the United Nations’ “Least Developed Countries” list, is uniquely vulnerable to foreign interference and security challenges.

This essay contends that the Solomons have seen the erosion of their sovereignty and democratic standards since 2019, when its government switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The country’s recent history plainly illustrates Beijing’s growing economic and political pressure concomitant with the shrinking influence of its traditional Western allies, Australia and the United States. Developments in the security realm highlight these trends. The experience of other Melanesian countries suggests how and why the states of the region may be able to protect their sovereigny while also benefiting from both Western and Chinese aid and investment projects.