太平洋島嶼フォーラムの地域紛争への関与 : ソロモン諸島における平和構築から武力介入決定まで

The commitment of the Pacific islands forum to regional conflict : From peace building to the decision of military intervention in Solomon islands

Ogashiwa Yoko

広島平和科学

Hiroshima Peace Science

[PISSN] 0386-3565

[EISSN] 2434-9135

[NCID] AN00213938

The Foreign Affairs Ministers' Meeting of the Pacific Islands Forum unanimously endorsed the Australian-led regional military intervention in Solomon Islands in June 2003. It was the first case of regional military intervention for the Forum since its formation in 1971. The decision was in accordance to the Biketawa Declaration, which the Forum adopted in October 2000 as the guiding principles to be taken by the Forum in case of intervention in regional conflicts. After the Townsville Peace Agreement was signed in October 2000, the Forum had committed to peace building in Solomon Islands, focusing on good governance. Following the dispatch of the election observer mission in December 2001, the Forum sent the eminent persons group to Solomon Islands in June 2002 and held a workshop on post-conflict peace building there in April 2003. However, the government of Solomon Islands failed to respond to the attempts of the Forum in peace building and asked Australia to intervene. Australia eventually led the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands in July 2003, after obtaining the endorsement of the Forum Foreign Affairs Ministers' Meeting and the Solomon Islands Parliament's passage of the enabling legislation giving powers to the mission. The regional military intervention in Solomon Islands brought a change to the relations between the Pacific Islands Countries and Australia in the Forum. Australia, which used to take a cautious attitude toward exercising leadership in the Forum, started to show an orientation for leadership. The election of an Australian diplomat as the first non-Pacific Islander Secretary General of the Forum signified this change, as well as the inauguration of another Australian diplomat as the head of the mission. If the perception, that Australia conveniently used the Forum to avoid criticisms on neo-colonialism, spreads among the Pacific Islands Countries, the Forum will lose confidence of the Pacific Islands Countries and weaken its function as a regional organization. In this re

Peace Science [ 319 ]

jpn

広島大学平和科学研究センター

[ISSN] 0386-3565

[NCID] AN00213938