Development of diplomatic practice in the Pacific: comparative case study of Fiji and Vanuatu

Abstract

Pacific region is generally very little known in Lithuania and is not considered to be of great political importance worldwide, but even the small and remote island states are sovereign countries with their own and unique diplomatic traditions. Fiji’s recent outstanding performance in hosting the Climate Change Conference at the United Nations has just demonstrated that these countries have a potential to use their diplomatic skills, even though still developing, on the global level. The two particular countries have been chosen for this case study - Fiji and Vanuatu, for analysing the overall development of their diplomacy ever since these islands started to show signs of contemporary diplomacy to the most recent diplomatic events and developments. Both countries are too small and remote to be able to take significant diplomatic action independently, making it extremely important for them to join or even initiate (as has been the case for Fiji) regional organisations, making regionalism the key feature of their diplomacy as well as the theoretical approach for this paper. The analysis of diplomatic development of both countries is divided into three main categories. The first one analyses diplomatic behaviour of both countries in the light of colonisation and decolonisation, also providing some historical background and long lasting ancient diplomatic traditions. The second one discusses important bilateral diplomatic relations of both countries, while the third category analyses their performance in regional and international organisations. The research generally demonstrates that Fiji’s diplomatic practice is more advanced than that of Vanuatu, but both countries have demonstrated through time that diplomatic continuity directly reflects the stability in the government, which was not always the feature in both countries.