The road to regional stability? The effectiveness of Australia's security and development policies in Melanesia

Abstract

Over the past decade, Melanesia’s typically ineffectual and corrupted governance, fragile economies and ethnic tensions have culminated into critical regional security threats. Situated within this geographic region is Australia, an emerging middle power characterised by western values, a stable democratic government and a solid economic structure. Confronted with such threats on its doorstep, the Australian government now perceives these problems as potentially harmful to its own national security, and has consequently initiated an increasingly intensive engagement with the Melanesian region. By expanding its aid programs and embarking on a more pro-active military involvement, Australia aims to achieve progress on security and development issues in Melanesia, and in effect, enhancing its own security policy goals. Through an analysis of the policies and operations of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the Australian government’s aid department, AusAID, this paper will seek to analyse the effectiveness of these endeavours.