In 1945, the only independent island group in Oceania was New Zealand. Fifty years later there were nine independent island groups, four that were associated with either New Zealand or the United States, and 13 that continued in some form of relationship with metropolitan states, though these relationships varied from integration to relative autonomy. The fact that there are so many alternatives to complete independence suggests that independence should not be seen as the only logical conclusion of decolonization, and that consequently decolonization in the Pacific should not be treated as simply an offshoot of decolonization elsewhere. The political, economic, and demographic forces that propelled decolonization in Asia and Africa were often lacking in these island groups. Colonial rulers did not have to contend with violent insurgencies or broad-based nationalist movements, and in some cases it was the metropolitan power that pushed for some form of imperial disengagement.
