Regional Solutions for Regional Problems: East Timor and Solomon Islands.

摘要

The early post-Cold War era offered unprecedented opportunities for collective security responses, and yet the international response to the security crises of the 1990s and early 2000s proved disappointing. An exception was in the Asia-Pacific region where a regional middle power, Australia, led several multi-national regional interventions to halt humanitarian crises and prevent state failures. This paper argues that where certain conditions pre- exist or can be created, regional solutions, as conceived under Chapter VIII of the United Nations Charter, offer the greatest likelihood of enduring success. The paper analyzes the Australian-led interventions in East Timor in 1999 and 2006, and the Solomon Islands in 2003, identifying factors that enabled regional cooperation, coalition building, and the exercise of national power. The paper concludes that the key factors underpinning effective regional solutions are as follows: a regional state willing to take a leadership role and committed to achieving a successful outcome; legitimacy through host nation request and/or an international mandate; a deep understanding of stakeholder interests; competent, expeditionary-capable security forces; and diplomatic and enabling support from major powers such as the United States.