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Hawaii’s World
A siren song for many of us has been to convince the world to see Hawaii as the Geneva of the Pacific. That's short-hand for Hawaii playing an increasing role as a place where the bigwigs of the world, and medium-sized-wigs, too, can retreat to talk about international problems and solutions in a congenial atmosphere. Hawaii’s role as
Geneva of the PacificWonder of wonders, it's happening.
The Asian Development Bank will gather in Honolulu next May 7-11 with 3,500 attendees, including finance ministers from 60 countries and 500-700 persons from the world financial press.
Last March, the Pacific Basin Economic Council brought about 600 people here for a meeting of regional business VIPs. They plan to be back in two years and to return again and again. This is their headquarters site. ADB's is in Manila.
Headquartered here, too, is Pacific Forum/CSIS, an organization that watches political and security trends in the region and issues regular reports.
Those are only starters. Commander-in-Chief Pacific headquarters on Halawa Heights does more than direct our military efforts in the entire Asia-Pacific region. It is turning more and more to peace efforts, bringing international visitors here to confer on how to keep the peace, rather than break it. Last month's top-level U.S.-China talks were a highlight.
CINCPAC is abetted by two other federally sponsored institutions. The East-West Center in Manoa has meetings going year-round involving thinkers and doers from around the Pacific. They talk about all manner of non-military topics.
Hosting comparable regular chats among military people from around the Pacific and Asia is the concern of the Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies with a beautiful new headquarters building at Fort DeRussy in Waikiki.
The University of Hawaii, Hawaii Pacific University and Brigham Young University-Hawaii also pitch in. The latter two have high percentages of international students enrolled.
Brenda Lei Foster is Governor Cayetano's executive assistant for national and international affairs. She sees us moving quite strongly in the Geneva-of-the-Pacific direction, aided by the new Hawaii Convention Center and by the activities mentioned above.
Asia-Pacific people love Hawaii. They can be more relaxed here than on the U.S. mainland, thanks to cultural affinities and our informal dress style. Thanks to the Internet they no longer have trouble keeping up with developments back home.
THE big obstacle to faster progress, Foster says, is the attitude among U.S. bureaucrats that Hawaii is a sun, surf and sand place, a meeting site that will draw media criticism. Yet they often book into Las Vegas or New Orleans.
Foster rates us a Triple A meeting place, thinks Asians do, too, but fears gun-shy U.S. bureaucrats grade us B. Our supporting complex of hotels and resorts on Oahu and the neighbor islands is one of the world's best. If delegates share a bit of surf and sun together, that can boost the all-important role of contact-building.
Foster's view is that people can phone, fax and write each other more successfully about mutual concerns if they have first met face-to-face. From my own attendance at newspaper gatherings I know this is true.
The erosion of direct air service from Hawaii to Asia-Pacific destinations due to longer-range aircraft has become a serious problem. The new Hawaii Tourism Authority is working to ease it.
Those of us who worked enthusiastically on the 1988 Governor's Congress on Hawaii's International Role see increased reason for the optimism we never abandoned.
A.A. Smyser is the contributing editor
and former editor of the the Star-Bulletin
His column runs Tuesday and Thursday.