COMMENTARY
Hawai'i has role in American 'empire'

By John Griffin

It's one thing to say that the United States has been building a kind of world empire in denial. It's something else to figure out how Hawai'i fits in.

My March 2 column summed up how the American "empire lite" includes more than a million men and women at arms on four continents and every ocean, survival guarantees from Israel to South Korea, global trade and commerce, scattered support for human rights, and great cultural influence. It suggested that our very support for democratization might end up challenging U.S. primacy.

As for where Hawai'i is or might be, take two central points I have made before:

• More is going on in international affairs here than many people realize, and that needs to be appreciated and built upon.
• Unfortunately, what we have often lacks coordination and focus. Some entity such as the state government needs to provide that and make Hawai'i's big picture and its image greater than the sum of its diverse parts.

Some additional notes:

• The University of Hawai'i is the biggest element in Hawai'i's international affairs. President Evan Dobelle provides pages on what UH is doing related to Asia and the Pacific — how it serves as a center for research and information, a meeting place and a source of educational services for the region.
  
  Dobelle also spins off ideas from Hawai'i acquiring a team in Japan's baseball league to a new plan for UH to help develop Asian versions of Harvard's Kennedy School for government to train civil servants in such countries as Indonesia and Thailand.
  
  
• The federally supported East-West Center, under president Charles Morrison, is doing more in such fields as media programs, emphasis on understanding Islam, cultural solutions in security matters, and Pacific island projects.
  
  
• Other government programs related to the region involve federal programs such as our major military presence, public and secret activities in the War on Terrorism, the federal Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, which concentrates on nonwarfare matters, and programs addressing matters ranging from agriculture to weather.
  
  On the private side, Hawai'i has more than 20 ethnic chambers of commerce; good private universities that serve many international students; the world-class Pacific Forum/CSIS, which provides regional studies and information; and public-education groups such as the Pacific and Asian Affairs Council and Friends of the East-West Center.
  
  
• State government is vital if Hawai'i is going to amount to more than the old sun-and-surf image.

Understandably perhaps, Gov. Linda Lingle has been occupied with getting organized, legislative matters, pressing local issues, establishing her image and office, and her recent trip to Washington. With budget cuts, her office staff is spread thin.

But she has not appointed someone to coordinate the many aspects of international affairs as former executive assistant Brenda Foster did for the previous two governors. Several good Republicans have volunteered to help for free but were put off.

The good news is that Lingle, unlike many of our leaders, has been to places such as Indonesia and Hong Kong. Aides say she is interested in the region and Hawai'i's potential role.

In addition, some in her administration see the bigger picture and possibilities. In this respect, many point to Ted Liu, new head of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.

Meanwhile, in the Legislature, Rep. Helene Hale, D-4th (Puna), is establishing her role as chairwoman of the new House Committee on International Affairs. Hale, a longtime U.N. supporter, took flak for pushing through a resolution calling on President Bush to get U.N. support on Iraq. She also has interesting ideas that may show up in other legislation. We need a Legislature that can look at Hawai'i's larger horizons.

So much goes on, but more awaits. Some ideas offered during my talks:

• State government needs someone to coordinate Hawai'i's international and national affairs and give it a focus. Former aide Foster suggests a small independent office above politics to serve both the administration and Legislature, something like the state auditor.
• The governor needs to do more on "the vision thing" regarding Hawai'i in the region. Perhaps that could be a mixture of practical ideas, thinking big, even dreaming a bit.
• At some point, we might have a state conference to discuss Hawai'i's future in the region. Dobelle says he was surprised when he came to UH to find Hawai'i didn't have a post-statehood plan for a greater role.
• "Branding" is a buzzword, but Hawai'i does need a new brand that goes beyond the usual tourism cliches to the idea that we are also more serious. Think of Hawai'i as a venue for education and conferences.
• Hawai'i has a special obligation to represent other Pacific islands in our national and international pictures. EWC president Morrison notes that Hawai'i's gross economic product is greater than all other island groups combined.
• We shouldn't be mesmerized by prospects for conflict with Iraq and North Korea. In one sense, we must think of postwar prospects. In another, we must see opportunities in crises. For example, while the 9/11 attacks were a tragedy, one result is said to have been more support and money for the new UH medical school.

Mixed in with all this are the issues of war and peace and Hawai'i's place.

Hawai'i is a major base, and the American military is not going to go away even if we wanted that. Still, we can seek to balance that presence with more peaceful aspects of the new empire.

My friend, the late A.A. "Bud" Smyser, once suggested that a monument or an institute for peace be placed in 'Aiea Heights or another place overlooking Pearl Harbor. I still like the pragmatic symbolism in that, even if I also realize the proportions are hardly equal.

One final point: I don't like the way the Bush administration has taken the nation down some needless roads to war and anti-Americanism. Protests are in order, although not against those who serve in the military.

Regardless, the country is on that road. Some day when peace comes, we must deal with the aftermath. Hawai'i should see itself with a positive role to play in the broader Asia-Pacific picture in that postwar process.

We owe it to ourselves and the nation to think bigger.

John Griffin, a frequent contributor, is former editor of The Advertiser's editorial pages.