Towards Theorizing Pacific in World Politics
By Francis Hualupmomi
The focus of International Relations (IR) has very much shifted to East Asia as I may posit here in the context of the rise and influence of China in Post Cold War era. I briefly sketch the history of IR theories and explain how it has changed over time and space. Then I call for PNG scholars to theorize this shift in world politics.
Historically and conventionally IR has always been a Western concept. It emerges as a result of the rise of US during World War II and Cold War period. This period simultaneously marked the ideological emergence and confrontations in an attempt to ‘inquire, explore and explain’ the continuum of world politics characterized by conflicts and instability. Simply put it, how Western scholars attempt to explain and predict US hegemonic role in world politics.
Interestingly, the end of Cold War period marked the turning point of IR. The Cold War constructs a bipolar system of two dominant camps – US vs. Russia – of conflicting idealism. Two main IR theories, Realism and Liberalism took center stage to explain and predict states’ outlook and behavior with respect to Liberal Democracy and Communism.
After the end of Cold War several theorists question the validity of these theories, which gives birth to other theories such as constructivism in explaining the future of word politics. However, more increasingly significant, is the rise of China in the East, which has now posed a more intensified challenge to conventional IR theories.
China’s prominence in world politics is shaking both low (soft) politics and power politics (real-politico). The Post Cold War era has constructed East Asia has the ‘centre of gravity’ attracting and shifting almost all IR scholars to predict the reconfiguration of the international system and world politics. The question one would pose is: what would IR be with the rise of China? This question stimulates other implicative questions: is China a threat to West, in particular US? Will China replace US as the global hegemon?
Three conflicting theories predict different scenarios about these questions. First, Realists predict that the rise of China is a threat to US and may cause future conflict and instability. Second, Liberalism predicts that reemergence of socialism after the end of Cold War may have friction with triumph of liberalism. Finally, the new non-conventional IR theory, constructivism argues that China may not be a threat to the West premised on the argument that shared common norms play an important role, however, are cautious that rise of China may conflict other shared norms.
In contrary, Chinese scholars are currently disputing these Western theories and attempting to develop its own hybrid theory premised on Confucius thoughts. According to Chinese IR scholars, China is miscalculated as a threat to US by Western scholars. This is because Confucius philosophy of ‘peace and harmonious society’ ultimately constraints conflict and instability.
While the Chinese scholars are indulging into designing a theory in IR to best explain and predict its position in world politics, other scholars in particular from developing countries should embark bandwagoning the new school, although resting on conventional school. The challenge at the macro level is how developing countries will adapt into rapidly changing paradigms with IR. It is not about how they will play a high politics rather a low politics – not only to gain but generally to construct a peaceful and harmonious society under the global governance framework.
At micro level, how do PNG and the Pacific region theorize the new IR as predicted by conventional IR theories? Whist the focus of study is in East Asia, this does not exclude other regions of strategic interest. Pacific region has been one of the ‘playing fields’ of low and high politics. After the end of WWII and Cold war the rise, expansion and influence of China has dramatically tested US regional hegemony. It is a complex issue though.
In essence, PNG scholars with support from government should comprehensively define and establish a project on theorizing Pacific perspectives in IR. International politics play an important role in determining ones position in international system. On the extreme, developments in world politics may affect state’s national interest driven by policy and institutional paradigms, for instance The Vision 2050.
PNG is the ‘soft power’ in the region and is already playing an important role in regional and world politics, for instance, in global warming. She is expected to be a leading economic power in the region come full economization of LNG projects as predicted by some distinguished political and economic analysts.
Other developing countries, in particular Africa have developed and contributed their thoughts in IR focusing on how they see themselves within asymmetry of world politics. Indeed, PNG in the true interest of the Pacific region should learn and work closely with emerging China and some African countries to theorize its new approach in the context of emerging powers. It is suggested that an International Studies Institute within University of Papua New Guinea dedicated to this project should be the way forward.
I conclude that IR is dynamically changing and or shifting with the rise of emerging powers, which questions conventional IR theories. There is a need to theorize a hybrid theory on how PNG in the interest of Pacific should adapt itself in modern global politics.

Francis Hualupmomi studies a Master of Arts in International Relations at the Institute of International Studies, Jilin University, China. He can be reached on profdrakes@gmail.com