The United Nations and the Pacific Islands

This book critically examines the relationship between the United Nations Organization and the small states of the Pacific islands. It provides an in-depth coverage of the United Nations, coupled with how Pacific Small Island Developing States interact. It covers three themes, the first one being the position of the UN on the Pacific Islands, which examines the role of the many UN organs, agencies and programs in strengthening individual countries and the region as a whole. It examines the manner in which the UN’s activities have benefited Pacific nations, territories and peoples. The second theme deals with the Pacific states in the UN, and examines the participation of Pacific nations and territories in the UN’s various organs, agencies, and programmes. It analyses the contribution they have made to the effectiveness of the organization, as distinct from the benefits they have sought to gain from it. The third and last theme deals with small states in global public policy, taking a broader look at how small states are faring within the UN system in the age of global discourse on shared public goods/public policy concerns.

Introduction: The Pacific Islands Region and the United Nations.- Part One: Self-determination and the development of new nations.- Self-Determination.- National development planning, implementation, and assessment.- Regional Development and the UN.- UN Offices in the Pacific.- Governance and Pacific Islands Policy networks.- Part Two: Pacific Islands engagement in the UN.- Membership and Participation in the major organs.- Regional Peace and Security.- Part Three: Small Island Developing Countries, Regionalism, and Global Multilateralism.- Global Policy Networks & Global Summitry.- Global Development Plans.- The Emergence of SIDS Development Discourse.- Small States as Good States, Smart States, in the Global Era.

Prof. Graham Hassall has held teaching and visiting appointments traversing the fields of history, comparative constitutional law, governance, public policy, public administration, and global studies, at the University of Melbourne, the University of Papua New Guinea, Nagoya University in Japan, Landegg Academy in Switzerland, the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, the University of Gothenburg in Sweden, and the Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He is a founding member of the New Zealand Centre for Global Studies, and a life-member of the United Nations Association of New Zealand, having served as National President 2012-2016. He was Academic Director of Papua New Guinea’s Foreign Service Training Programme 2014-17. He has undertaken consultancies for the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, UNDESA, UNDP, Commonwealth Local Government Forum, Global Integrity, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Papua New Guinea Department of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology; and has served on editorial and advisory boards including the New Zealand Association for Comparative Law; the Comparative Law Journal of the Pacific; the Commonwealth Journal of Local Governance, and the New Zealand Council for International Development.