Opinion & Commentary
Opinion and Commentary contains media articles written by CIS researchers.
Categories
End the cargo-cult aid mentality that has ruined our neighbours
Pacific elites have appropriated the bulk of aid, mineral, forestry and other incomes to become immensely wealthy at the cost of villagers. Read More
Pakistan a Chinese pawn to stall India
AT the Shangri-La Dialogue meeting of defence ministers in Singapore last month, Indian Defence Minister Pallam Raju was asked whether India could exercise similar self-restraint should another terrorist... Read More
The Fiji meeting would be a farce if it were funny
‘Melanesia’ is an anthropologists’ construct that has no economic and little other sense. It the arcane world of United Nations politics it was promoted as a ‘region’ to create jobs for bureaucrats,... Read More
What a difference a decade doesn't make to the lives of Pacific Islanders
Ten years after the UN pledged to address poverty and poor health and education levels in the Pacific region, the shameful results mock the aid industry, says Helen Hughes in The Weekend Australian, 12... Read More
Army of well-paid advisers keep Pacific poor
Poorly targeted aid to the Pacific hinders rather than helps the region. Read More
Pacific angst
The very fact that America needs to negotiate with its Asian allies and partners – and sometimes even compromise – means that Washington will adapt in ways that allow it to remain the preferred security... Read More
Good policy better than guest work for neighbours
The announcement that Australia is inaugurating a ‘guest worker’ scheme for Pacific islanders to pick fruit in Australia will earn Prime Minister Rudd a warm welcome at the Pacific Island Forum meeting... Read More
Why RAMSI should stay
Now into its fifth year and with no exit strategy in sight, questions are beginning to be asked about the future of the Australian-led Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands (RAMSI). Should... Read More
Game of Pacific cop and dodgers
The Howard Government's decision to help the Solomons by restoring civil order to the South Pacific islands is welcome. Read More
Will Papua New Guinea be a 'failed state'?
Papua New Guinea is rich in natural resources. Yet it is facing a very difficult future. The economy has stagnated and the outlook for growth is bleak. Corruption is rife. Law and order have broken down,... Read More
Way out for poor little rich island
Nauru - an island of 22sq km, lying near the Equator, thousands of kilometres from the nearest large Pacific island group - was named the Happy Isle by early European explorers for its mix of Micronesian,... Read More
Smaller government the answer for Fiji
Fiji has scored rather poorly since independence on economic growth, security and social harmony. The country has suffered from backsliding, racial distrust, fear and pessimism. Last Thursday’s Court... Read More
Aid has failed the Pacific
Per capita income has grown at less than 1% a year in the Pacific during the past 30 years. In some islands it has declined. Population has grown at more than 3% a year. The discrepancy between population... Read More