Focus
Renew ties with Pacific isles to bolster 'weak link'

By Gerard A. Finin

Our defense against terrorism is only as strong as the weakest link in the protective chain. While major efforts to tighten security measures are under way on many fronts, there remains a little-noticed but potentially fatal weak link in the effort to stem terrorist activities.

Kiribati is among Pacific islands that could help the United States in its worldwide war on terrorism. Advertiser library photo • Dec. 31, 1999

While these countries may appear on world maps as mere specks, there is an urgent need for the United States to ensure that the seemingly paradisiacal Pacific "backwaters" do not become a "back door" from which future attacks are launched.

As the events of Sept. 11 made all too clear, terrorists exploit any vulnerability to achieve their objectives. Efforts at coalition building must include not only large states with powerful militaries but also the smallest nations lacking conventional strategic assets.

During World War II, thousands of Americans, including future presidents George H.W. Bush and John F. Kennedy, fought together with the people of the Pacific islands to establish control over harbors and airfields where enemy troops were within striking distance of Allied powers.

Throughout the Cold War, the United States and its allies engaged the Pacific island nations through a policy of strategic denial that successfully thwarted Soviet efforts to establish a naval presence.

However, in the post-Cold War period, the United States did not discern clear national interests in remaining engaged in the Pacific. Enhanced long distance air and sea capabilities no longer made plane refueling and ship resupply in the islands necessary. The demise of the Soviet navy coupled with pressures to do more in other parts of the globe caused a major downgrading of relations in terms of the breadth and depth of our links to the Pacific.

Not only were diplomatic and consular offices closed, but important people-to-people programs such as Fulbright academic exchanges and Humphrey scholarships were abandoned.

More recently, the United States, without consulting Pacific island governments, unilaterally stepped back from the Kyoto protocols to reduce global warming and ocean rise that threaten small atoll nations such as the Marshall Islands and Kiribati.

Meanwhile, in the face of the declining development assistance and pressures to become more self-sufficient, Pacific island nations attempted to raise revenues by other means. These endeavors, along with other more general governance problems, pose a significant threat to the war on terrorism.

A number of Pacific island nations established programs that essentially sell passports on demand because they know the extraordinary price individuals would pay to expeditiously gain citizenship that facilitates international travel. With few questions or credentials, individuals who have never set foot in a Pacific island society can become "citizens."

These new citizens often may travel worldwide with far greater ease. Indeed, Pacific island citizens from countries without U.S. consulates may obtain their visas to enter the United States based solely on the passport and other papers submitted by mail; no personal appearance is required.

Offshore banking operations in several Pacific island states are equally problematic. This critically important source of income for certain Pacific island governments has the potential to hide huge sums from scrutiny by legitimate financial oversight institutions.

Reports from Nauru, for example, suggest that there are some 450 shell banking companies, of which one-third are said to be of Middle Eastern origin. With an estimated $400 million passing through these accounts each year, such sums cannot be deemed insignificant. It behooves the United States as well as nations such as Australia, Japan and New Zealand to encourage anti-money-laundering reforms by helping small island states develop other sources of revenue.

A number of other challenges confront Pacific island governments in their desire to join the fight against terrorism. With hundreds of remote islands and porous national maritime borders extending thousands of miles, it is difficult to maintain oversight and strict enforcement of immigration procedures.

Careful scrutiny of arriving visitors and the onloading of materials may at best be haphazard. Moreover, airline security tends to be minimal in places that lack adequate communication and security equipment.

Terrorists will quickly seize upon areas like the Pacific islands because it is where we think they are least likely to operate. Precisely for this reason, there is no better time to renew old U.S.-Pacific friendships and strengthen historical ties to advance our collective security by once again working side by side.

Recent messages from Pacific island capitals suggest governments in this region are more than willing to join in the fight against terrorism. Only by again engaging the Pacific islands as valued neighbors and working together to institute a broad range of immediate and long-term security measures will we strengthen this weak link in our own back yard.

Gerard A. Finin is with the Pacific Islands Development Program at the East-West Center.