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GLOBAL LIBERISISM?:
rethinking the ‘third world’ after the cold war
The end of history?
Mark T. Berger
The end of the cold war has facilitated the dramatic globalisation of market economies and electoral democracy. However, the significance of global capitalism and the substance of the
democratic transitions of the past few years are subjects of considerable debate. Many commentators continue to anticipate that the former Soviet Union, as well as much of Eastern Europe, will soon be ‘joining’
the industrial economies and political demoracies of Western Europe, North America and Japan. They emphasise that the end of the Cold War represents the triumph of liberalism and it is only a matter of time before
the former Soviet bloc along with the rest of the world (especially the ‘Newly Industrialised Countries’ of East Asia) enters an era of capitalist prosperity and ‘democracy’.
LOCALISED SPACES, GLOBALISED PLACES:
tracing the pacific rim
Timothy W. Luke
On Glocalisation: The Pacific Rim
The new world order of sovereign nation-states, which was to have led to joint collaboration within the United Nations to pursue truth, justice, and the American way
, did not last Something else has begun to fill the void opened by the collapse of communism, and it does not look like the international harmonisation of the interests
promised by former President Bush after the UN coalition’s victory over Iraq. This paper addresses these developments, suggesting that at least one kind of postnational
and transnational order gradually is emerging above and below the realms of the modern nation-state in an informational mode of production.
FRANCE AND SOUTH PACIFIC REGIONALISM
IN THE 1980s AND 1990s
Ganesh Chand
French presence in the Pacific has been continuous since 1842 when it annexed the Marquesas and Tahiti. But French activities escaped a serious analysis by English
-medium scholars for many decades. It has only been during the last three decades that France’s activities began attracting serious attention by governments and
researchers. Since the 1970s, the French government came under massive condemnation by the South Pacific regional nations, including Australia and New
Zealand, for its nuclear testing on Moruroa Atoll. Since the 1980s France’s violent suppression of the pro-independence movement in New Caledonia was added to the list of grievances of the region.
DRAGON UNBOUND OR DRAGON DESTROYED?:
China in the New World Disorder
Martin F. Farrell
Faced with the tasks of assesing China’s likely role in the closing years of this century and on into the next millenium, one is reminded of Winston Churchhill’s famous
reference to the Soviet Union as ``a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.`` Yet, at least in retrospect, the stalin controlled the Party. Party domination was
exercised over almost every facet of political, economic and cultural life. Ethnic minorities, while given broad de jure powers to run their own affairs and even secede
from the Union, were in fact tightly controlled by the central party apparatus through a combination of tactics ranging from cooptation to severe repression. Revolutionary
rhetoric and some erratic decisions not withstanding, foreign policy was generally guided by traditional notions of power politics serving the perceived national interests.
THE MYTH OF POST-COLD DISARMAMENT:
POST-SOVIET DISORDER AND REARMAMENT IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC REGION
Steven Ratuva and Douglas A. Borer
On August 21, 1991 the cold war ended. This date marks the failure of the anti-Gorbachev coup led by Krelin hardliners, and also marks the event which
catapulated Boris Yeltsin to the forefront of world politics. Less than six months later the soviet Union had ceased to exist. In the euphoric West many people assumed that
the end of the cold war heraided the emergence of a new international world order featuring harmonious relations between nations as the ideological confrontation
between East and West withered away. The cold war period was one of heightened tension, and barely concealed hostilities between the Soviet Union and the United
States, together with their respective allies. The United States’ fundamental aim was to contain what it perceived as the "Communists menace."The Soviet on the hand
perceived US interests as global "economic internationalism" and "imperialist aggression." Mutual suspision between the two superpowers was the primary justification for massive arms programs.
TRADE LIBERALISATION INTHE POST-COLD WAR ERA AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR THE FIJI SUGAR INDUSTRY
Roman Grynberg
This paper considers the prognosis for the Fiji sugar industry in the post-cold war era. While the connection between the two may not be readily apparent it must be
understood that it has become an axiom of the post-cold war world that the principle issues of international policy revolve increasingly around matters pertaining to
international trade. The process of trade liberalisation have been continuing since the end of World War 2. In recent years they have reached a new level with the
proposed liberalisation of agricultural trade. The Fiji sugar industry is highly dependent upon two preferential trade agreements: The Lome Convention and the US Sugar
Quota. These account for more than 60% of Fiji’s total sugar exports in any given year, and as a result, the development of the industry is highly dependent upon conditions prevailing in US and European markets.
MALAYSIA: the evolution of an ethnic state
Steven Majstorovic
As the glow of post-cold war euphoria begins to wear off, the realisation has started to sink in that the end of a relatively stable bipolar world has not led to a "New World
Disorder." This "disorder" has been characterised by secession, calls for autonomy, and various civil wars. Although the international community had focused on Europe,
the Middle East, and Africa, the Pacific arena is not immune from the cultural conflicts which characterise this "disorder." Malaysia is a particularly appropiate example of the
potential for political disorder when cultural conflicts take centre stage
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