Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: In 1976, the Fishery Conservation and Management Act was passed by the US Congress, creating the 200-mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This paper examines the governance impacts of this institutional change on the management of Pacific salmon with a specific focus on the implications for the uses and management of salmon by the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest. With respect to salmon, the primary impacts of the imposition of 200 mile EEZ in the US have included the elimination of foreign interceptions of salmon within the EEZ and the stabilization or reduction of domestic interceptions. Through international treaties, the federal government has also worked to eliminate the harvest of salmon in international waters. These actions have enhanced customary and traditional uses of Pacific salmon in near-shore and riverine areas. Additionally, through various legal interventions, the federal government has also worked to ensure that customary and traditional uses are given management priority in state waters (within three miles of the coast). In the Pacific Northwest, the federal government has set up a framework for cooperative management between the sub-national state governments and indigenous groups. In these respects, federal oversight of the EEZs has enhanced equitable access, use and management of salmon resources indigenous fishermen.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: What will the distribution of wealth and power in the Pacific look like by 2050? Will a regional hegemon rise or will a bi- or multi-polar system develop? Will there be a need or the potential for a regional security organization? This paper will attempt to answer these questions by applying a model of economic growth (Barro 1997) to the nations of the region as well as the US. Once the probable levels of economic growth are determined, likely levels of military of military spending will be posited to identify potential distributions of military power. Dynamic relationships in arms spending will be considered to assess the prospects for arms races. These distributions will be analyzed to determine the implications to US, Japanese, Chinese and regional security policies.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Over the past two decades, numerous Asia-Pacific states have made the transition to democracy founded on basic political liberties and freely contested elections. A little-noticed consequence of this process has been strikingly congruent reforms to key political institutions such as electoral systems, political parties, and parliaments. I argue that, across the region, these reforms have been motivated by common aims of promoting government stability, reducing political fragmentation, and limiting the potential for new entrants to the party system. As a result, similar strategies of institutional design are evident in the increasing prevalence of ‘mixed-member majoritarian’ electoral systems, new political party laws favouring the development of aggregative party systems, and constraints on the enfranchisement of regional or ethnic minorities. Comparing the outcomes of these reforms with those of other world regions, I argue there has been an increasing convergence on an identifiable ‘Asian model’ of electoral democracy.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This study examined news articles, opinion pieces, and editorials printed in Guam’s local newspaper (1994-2004), which reported on the island’s annual celebration of its liberation from imperial Japanese occupation, by U.S. forces. A critical discourse analysis of the items revealed that Guam’s newspaper, the Pacific Daily News, downplayed a pro-local versus pro-American conflict. What emerged were ambivalent portrayals that appeared to hegemonically maintain the island’s social system as an “unincorporated” U.S. territory. Implications were discussed.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Abstract: Bilateralism has been a dominant feature of the Asia-Pacific strategic landscape for more than half a century. The Bush administration has recently reaffirmed the centrality of these alliances to its regional security posture, insisting that are applicable to both Washington's 'global war on terror' (GWOT) and to more traditionally state-centric security considerations. Recent trends, however, point toward the relevance and applicability of these security arrangements coming under increased challenge. Growing regional apprehensions over the fate of the U.S.-led military intervention in Iraq, generational change and an intensification of the Asia-Pacific's multilateral politico-security community building all underscore the need to update, reconcile or even transform bilateralism with the dynamics of regional strategic change. This paper initially develops theoretical perspectives of bilateralism that are largely under-assessed in the international relations literature. It then cross-compares bilateralism's theoretical and empirical characteristics with multilateralism's increasingly appealing normative and strategic rationales as they apply to an Asia-Pacific context, applying notions of public good, inclusiveness and community-building into its analysis. Our central argument is that bilateralism can be effectively reconciled with multilateralism in the evolving Asia-Pacific security environment by pursuing policies that incorporate such factors.