The New Frontier, the Great Society, and American Imperialism in Oceania
Author(s)
Weeks, Charles J., Jr.
Abstract
During the 1960’s, the United States followed a policy of benevolent imperialism in Oceania. Despite an American tradition of anti-colonialism, policymakers during the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson administrations believed that the containment of communism necessitated maintaining hegemony in the Pacific. They sought to accomplish this goal by inducing prosperity through aid to their own possessions and by encouraging Australia and New Zealand to do the same within their spheres of influence. To forestall any Communist penetration into Oceania, the United States opposed granting full independence to the emerging island nations and hoped to persuade Australia and New Zealand to retain responsibility for the foreign relations of both their own former colonies and those of Britain. The greatest challenge to American plans came when leaders of the Australian Labor Party proposed making the entire Pacific Ocean area a nuclear-free zone. Although not all American programs were successful, the United States accomplished most of its foreign policy goals in Oceania during this period.
