Models of Regional Governance for the Pacific: sovereignty and the future architecture of regionalism.

• Author: Naidu, Vijay
• Position: Book review

MODELS OF REGIONAL GOVERNANCE FOR THE PACIFIC: Sovereignty and the future architecture of regionalism Editor: Kennedy Graham Published by: Canterbury University Press, Christchurch, 2008, 260pp, $39.95.

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This 260-page book, comprising 11 chapters that are divided into four parts and five sections and edited by Kennedy Graham, is a most useful and timely scholarly contribution to current discussions on the future form and direction of Pacific Islands regionalism. The book is well organised into segments that address different aspects of regionalism, from the general to more specific dimensions. Its individual chapters are crafted thoughtfully by leading scholars and experienced practitioners. These chapters address a number of very central and difficult questions that face the Pacific Islands region.

The foreword is a politician's standpoint. Written by Charles Chauvel, a New Zealand parliamentarian, it reflects on New Zealand relations with Pacific Islands countries and some significant challenges of regionalism in Oceania. This sets an appropriate backdrop to the chapters that follow. Part 1A looks at the United Nations and the Pacific and 'Alternative Models of Regional Governance' with two chapters--the first by the book editor himself is entitled 'Models of Regional Governance: Is there a choice for the Pacific?'; the second by European Union head of delegation Roberto Ridolfi considers the relevance of the European experience to the Pacific. Graham notes the uniqueness of Oceania linked by water rather than land and explores whether deepening regionalism is an imperative in the face of economic globalisation and climate change with or without the larger metropolitan neighbours, Australia and New Zealand. He is firmly of the view that multi-layered jurisdiction is feasible and desirable and that Africa and Europe provide clear signals that 'sovereignty shared is sovereignty enlarged'. Ridolfi sketches the evolution of the European Union and signposts the specific circumstances, champions and personalities, their vision and the positive outcomes that have resulted in an incremental commitment towards political union.

Part 1B, 'The Pacific Plan and Regional Governance', comprises two chapters written by the prominent law scholar Anthony Angelo and former Pacific Islands Forum legal adviser Shennia Spillane respectively. Angelo maintains that the two recent reviews of regional organisations, 'the regional...