Pacific Island Affairs And US Diplomatic Relations – Analysis
By Published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute
By Michael Walsh
(FPRI) — Under the Biden administration, there have been a number of extraordinary events that have had a significant impact on US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands, New Zealand, and Niue. Among other things, the Pacific Partnership Strategy changed the higher-level planning priorities of particular relevance to the Cook Islands, New Zealand, Niue, and Tokelau, while the establishment of US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue fundamentally changed the delegated responsibilities of the US Embassy and Consulate in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue.
It is, therefore, remarkable that the Integrated Country Strategy for New Zealand has never been updated to account for these major changes in the operating environment of the US Embassy and Consulate in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue. That oversight not only raises questions about the performance of the country team; it also underscores the widely held criticism that the Biden administration has insufficiently delivered on its commitment to reform and modernize the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development. Prior to the second inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, members of Congress may therefore want to consider the issues raised by recent developments in the US bilateral relationships with the Cook Islands and Niue.
Integrated Country Strategy for New Zealand
On April 26, 2022, the mission strategic plan of the US Embassy and Consulate in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue was approved for release. The Integrated Country Strategy for New Zealand set the whole-of-government priorities in New Zealand and its dependencies and areas of special sovereignty. At that time, the Department of State recognized the Cook Islands, Tokelau, and Niue as dependencies and areas of special sovereignty.
However, the mission strategic plan only made three explicit references to the Cook Islands and Niue. As a matter of policy, a mission strategic plan is to incorporate “higher level planning priorities” (Foreign Affairs Manual vol. 18, 301.2). Among other things, the Integrated Country Strategy for New Zealand is linked to the higher-level planning priorities articulated in the Joint Strategic Plan, the Joint Regional Strategy for East Asia and the Pacific, and the Indo-Pacific Strategy.
US-Pacific Island Country Summit
On September 28–29, 2022, the Biden administration hosted the US-Pacific Island Country Summit. According to the Department of State, the event was intended to demonstrate the “deep and enduring partnership” between the United States and the Pacific Island countries. Prior to the summit, the White House elected not to extend invitations to either the Cook Islands or Niue. That decision was met with protests from regional leaders who argued that the US government should have extended invitations to all of the member states of the Pacific Islands Forum. Ultimately, the Biden administration reversed course. The US government extended belated invitations to the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and Niue. At the summit, the White House released the first-ever Pacific Partners Strategy, which articulated a set of national planning priorities for the Pacific Islands region.
US-Pacific Island Forum Leader’s Summit
On September 25, 2023, the Biden administration hosted the US-Pacific Island Forum Leader’s Summit. According to the Department of State, the event was intended to reaffirm the strategic commitment of the US government to the region. During the summit, President Joseph Biden announced that the US government now officially recognized the Cook Islands and Niue as independent states. That ended their classification as dependencies and areas of special sovereignty. The US government also established diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue. The Department of State labeled the establishment of these new diplomatic relations as a historic achievement. Prior to those developments, it was widely reported that the White House would be announcing new embassies in the Cook Islands and Niue at the summit. However, those reports proved to be unfounded; when the White House released the official fact sheet for the summit, it only made mention of a future embassy in Vanuatu.
The Sunset of the Biden Administration
At present, it has been over two years since the release of the Integrated Country Strategy for New Zealand. In that period, a number of extraordinary events have shifted the context of US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands, Niue, and New Zealand. Not only did the release of the Pacific Partnership Strategyalter the higher-level planning priorities for the Cook Islands, Niue, New Zealand, and Tokelau, but also the establishment of US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue fundamentally changed the delegated responsibilities of the US Embassy and Consulate in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue.
Both of those extraordinary events had knock-on effects. Among other things, they shifted the bilateral expectations of the Cook Islanders and Niuean peoples. It is therefore remarkable that the US Embassy and Consulate in New Zealand, the Cook Islands, and Niue has failed to revise the Integrated Country Strategy for New Zealand. At a minimum, the country team should have immediately renamed it the Integrated Country Strategy for the Cook Islands, New Zealand, and Niue following the establishment of US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue.
Issues for Congress
As the US Congress weighs reforms to the management of American foreign policy by the executive branch, members may want to consider the following issues:
Strategic Plans: The management of US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue begs important questions about the strategic plans of US diplomatic missions:
- Naming convention: Should there be a standard method for naming mission strategic plans? If so, should it include a requirement to name all of the independent states of concurrent accreditation?
- Required revisions: Should the guidelines and instructions for mission strategic plans declare the requirement that they be revised in the event of an extraordinary event?
- Extraordinary events: Should there be a standard definition for extraordinary events? If not, should there be a standard method for declaring an extraordinary event?
- Congressional oversight: Should the congressional committees of jurisdiction be given the standing power to declare an extraordinary event that requires the immediate revision of a mission strategic plan by the executive branch?
- Additional assessment: Should there be mission strategic planning guidelines and instructions for the assessment of dependencies and areas of special sovereignty?
Regional Summits: Under the Biden administration, regional summits for US and Pacific Island leaders have had a significant impact on US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue. However, they also beg important questions about the management of these events:
- Guest list: Should there be event guidelines and instructions on which leaders of which independent states, dependencies, and/or areas of special sovereignty are to be invited?
- Cost-benefit analysis: Do the total benefits of hosting regional summits with US and Pacific Island leaders outweigh the total costs for American taxpayers?
- Statutory requirement: Should there be a statutory requirement that the executive branch regularly host a regional summit with US and Pacific Island leaders? If so, how often?
- Global alignment: Should the regional summits for US and Pacific Island leaders be strategically aligned with the other regional summits for US and Global South leaders?
Regional Organizations: Under the Biden administration, the prioritization of bolstering the Pacific Islands Forum has had a significant impact on US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue. However, it also begs important questions about the US pivot to Pacific regionalism:
- Strategic priority: What is the correct balance that should be struck between bolstering bilateral institutions and multilateral institutions in the Pacific Islands region?
- Strategic alliances: What is the correct balance that should be struck between advancing the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States and advancing the national security and foreign policy interests of Australia and New Zealand in bolstering bilateral institutions and multilateral institutions in the Pacific Islands region?
- Regional institutions: Has the executive branch put too much emphasis on bolstering the Pacific Islands Forum at the expense of the Pacific community?
- Subregional institutions: Has the executive branch put too much emphasis on bolstering regional institutions at the expense of subregional institutions, including the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Polynesian Leaders Group, and Micronesian Presidents’ Summit?
Diplomatic Posture: Under the Biden administration, the US government has made an effort “to place more diplomatic staff throughout the region.” This has included the opening of three new embassies in the Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. However, the US Department of State still has not opened an embassy or consulate in the Cook Islands and Niue. That begs important questions about the US diplomatic posture in the Pacific Islands region:
- Local posture: What kind of US diplomatic posture is required in the Cook Islands and Niue to advance America’s prosperity and security?
- Regional posture: What kind of US diplomatic posture is required in the Pacific Islands in order to “deny China’s regional hegemonic ambitions?”
- Global alignment: What kind of US diplomatic posture is required in the Pacific Islands in order to win global competition with the axis of China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia?
Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty: The management of US diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands and Niue begs important questions about the political statuses of other dependencies and areas of sovereignty, including the Faroe Islands and Greenland:
- Global assessment: Should the executive branch be required to conduct a global assessment to determine if any other dependencies and areas of sovereignty count as independent states?
Author’s Note: This article was written in memory of the author’s mentor, Ambassador Steven McGann, who served as the US Ambassador to the Republics of Fiji, Nauru, Kiribati, and the Kingdom of Tonga and Tuvalu.
- About the author: Michael Walsh is a Non-Resident Senior Fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Africa Program.
- Source: This article was published at FPRI