| mots-clés : Pacifique (région – sud) – Relations extérieures – France – Territoires et possessions – Pacifique Sud – Océanie – Polynésie française – Nouvelle-Calédonie – Politique – Pouvoir – Organisation – Société – relations internationales – histoire coloniale – indépendance nationale – indentité culturelle – société traditionnelle – organisation régionale – mouvement politique – conflit politique – contestation régionales – passé colonial |
|
| France in the South Pacific: 1966-2006: Challenges and Change |
| Relationships between France and the South Pacific have changed considerably over the last forty years (1966-2006). In this research we firstly assess the two main reasons for the French presence in the region, which are territorial and strategic. We then analyse these reasons as the basis for regional challenge to French policy in the area. The States of the South Pacific have opposed French nuclear policy in French Polynesia on grounds of regional security, an have also expresses strong support for the pro-independence movement in New Caledonia, thus defending a shared desire to break with their colonial past. Finally the reasons for the rapprochement which has taken place between France and the States of Oceania reveal different but converging interests which highlight the complexity of the notion of foreign policy. |
| mots-clés en anglais : France – French foreign policy – South Pacific – French overseas presence – French overseas territories – Post-Colonial context – New Caledonia – Melanesia – Oceania – South Pacific – Independence movment – Political identity |
