Steven Ratuva

The Military Coups in Fiji: Reactive and Transformative Tendencies

Abstract Since 1987 there have been six coups altogether in Fiji. The article examines the reactive and transformative nature of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, hereafter referred to as Fiji military, and coups and their impact on the small multi-cultural country of 850,000 people. The coups in Fiji have to be seen in the light of the two separate but related developments, namely the historical dynamic interplay between politics and ethnicity and secondly, how the military itself has evolved as a state institution and how it perceived its role in the modern state system. Although the military is modelled along the lines of a praetorian institution, its perceived role has often shifted from being guardian of indigenous Fijian interests to protector of the multi-ethnic state. The interventionist tendency of the military was largely in response to the way in which the interplay between politics and ethnicity had played a part in creating discord and tension. All the six coups in Fiji were linked and need to be understood in relation to each other. The 2006 coup was the most politically transformative as some of the most powerful institutions were weakened and reconfigured and a new order created under the guise of a ‘clean-up campaign’.

Anxiety and Diminished Hope: The Potential Impact of Trump’s Presidency on Security in the Pacific Islands Region

Abstract The election of Donald Trump as the next president of the US has caused much international consternation and anxiety. Reactions have been based on distrust and rejection of Trump’s political ideology, behavioural disposition and unpredictable policy positions. His campaign speeches were filled with provocative utterances which were racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-environment and self-centred. This article examines some possible impacts of Trump’s presidency on the Pacific island countries (PICs). The first issue refers to how Trump’s proposed isolationist and militarisation policies may affect regional geopolitics. The two policies tend to contradict each other because while isolationism means pulling back on US economic and strategic presence in the Pacific, a reversal of the pivot to Asia-Pacific policy, militarisation implies greater strategic reach, regionally and globally. What does this seemingly contradictory approach mean for the PICs? Second, the article looks at the impact of Trump’s climate change denial stance and the responses by PICs, given the fact that climate change is the single most significant foreign policy and development initiative of the PICs since their independence. The third issue deals with the potential impact of Trump’s restrictive migration policies on remittance flow to the PICs and how these affect the small island economies and well-being.

Subalternization of the global south: Critique of mainstream ‘Western’ security discourses

Mainstream ‘Western’ discourses on security often located the Western world at the centre of analysis, and the global south societies were seen as full of rogue states and potential sources of threat to liberal democracy, global capitalist interests and Western values. A critical factor was the way in which some of the underlying assumptions were used to justify division of the world into the ‘west versus the rest’ and intervention in various forms. The article does a critique of some of the dominant security discourses in the context of their significance to the global south. The political, cultural and economic transformations in the global south societies and their subaltern position within global power configuration were shaped by their colonial experiences, and these in turn reflected their security situations and these factors are often ignored in mainstream security thinking. This poses serious questions about the relevance of Western notions of security and implications on world peace.

Protectionism versus Reformism: The Battle for Taukei Ascendancy in Fiji’s 2014 General Election

Abstract Discussion of intra-communal discourse in Fiji has often been overshadowed by the focus on inter-communal tension. Although the two are linked in dynamic ways, it is important to have an insight into some of the fundamental ideological schisms that have shaped inter-communal politics because they do shape the form and trajectory of national politics in a significant way. This was so during the 2014 election when the two leading political parties, FijiFirst and the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA), put in significant resources and effort into mobilising Taukei (indigenous Fijian) votes. The differences between the two parties represented the two sides of the Taukei political divide. FijiFirst pushed for fundamental reform and transformation of the Taukei society whereas SODELPA was protective of neo-traditional institutions and values, and the collision between these divergent ideological stances was a central political battle ground in the election.

The interface between affirmative action and neoliberalism: The case of Fiji

The notions of affirmative action and neoliberalism may be theoretically contradictory since the former deals with state intervention and the latter with privatization, the reality can be quite complex as the case of Fiji suggests. In a situation where the state has an ideological obligation to pursue neoliberal policies and a political commitment to implement affirmative action programs, the role the state plays as political and economic mediator can be syncretic, that is, both accommodating and contradictory. The article examines the interface between affirmative action and neoliberalism in Fiji in the context of regime change through coups. It discusses the deployment of affirmative action programs as mitigation against neoliberal market competition and at the same time, how neoliberal policies were used as a means of achieving some objectives of affirmative action, in particular the economic empowerment of the indigenous Fijian middle class.

Ethnicity, affirmative action and coups in Fiji: indigenous development policies between the 2000 and 2006 coups

Affirmative action is often conceptualized as a conflict resolution mechanism in a situation of ethnic tension and socio-economic inequality. However, as the case of Fiji shows, affirmative action can also help spawn communal strife. Affirmative action is often used as political leverage by political parties and elites to serve political and personal ends. In post-colonial states like Fiji, where the designated groups are the politically dominant and demographic majority, the contradiction between using affirmative action to address inequality on one hand and political leveraging on the other is a common dilemma. In the period under review in the article (2000–2006), affirmative action was used as leverage for ethnic appeasement, mobilization of electoral support and self-enrichment. This led to abuse, scandals and even more tension.