The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2007

initiatives: a new, regional public af- fairs office in Suva; expanded exchange and English-language programs; new grants focused on democracy, civil rights and the rule of law; and brief- ings and workshops organized by the Office of the U.S. Trade Represen- tative on securing duty-free benefits for Pacific states. Also under way is an effort to involve neighboring countries in the construction projects related to the relocation of 8,000 American troops from Okinawa to Guam. On May 8 and 9, State hosted a Core Partners Meeting for countries and organizations with a strong inter- est in the Pacific. Critics from the Pacific Islands and elsewhere have long urged greater U.S. involvement in the region. Indeed, such an article in the FSJ (“The Pacific Microstates and U.S. Security,” November 2006) drew a prompt response from the State Department (“The U.S. Is Engaged in the South Pacific,” January 2007). Still, this level of interest from the U.S. is a new development, says Paci- fic Islands Development Program Director Sitiveni (Steven) Halapua of the East-West Center in Honolulu, which acts as the secretariat for the Pacific Islands Conference of Leaders ( www.pacificmagazine.net/news/20 07/05/06/us-steps-up-pacific-is lands-engagement ). But now that the Pacific island nations have Wash- ington’s attention, Halapua urges cau- tion. “How do we want this relationship to work?” he asks. “Will the U.S. con- trol [the Pacific]? Are we just going to be beneficiaries, recipients? Or [will be be] players? … Pacific islanders have to think not about how much money the U.S. will give them; instead they need to think about what collaborative strategies [they can] develop to manage this relationship.” U.S.-India Civilian Nuclear Deal: A Dead Letter? If not totally stalled, the nuclear agreement with India — billed by its promoters as a win-win for both coun- tries — has certainly hit some snags. One of the Bush administration’s bigger and more controversial foreign policy projects, the deal would allow India to participate in nuclear tech- nology trade and cooperation even though New Delhi has tested nuclear weapons and is not a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Last December, Congress passed the Henry Hyde U.S.-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act, clearing the way for the historic deal. But at this writing, the first of three additional steps necessary to imple- ment it has yet to be completed. That first step — negotiation of the so- called 123 Agreement that will for- mally spell out the terms of coopera- tion consistent with provisions of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act — also has to be cleared by Congress. The Bush administration hoped to complete the deal, including final congressional approval, by the end of June. But Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns’ trip to New Delhi to wrap up the 123 talks at the end of May proved fruitless. Following a 10- minute meeting between President Bush and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the G-8 summit, both pro- nounced the agreement “doable,” but agreed that more “tough negotia- tions” are necessary. The talks are deadlocked over two issues: nuclear testing and fuel repro- cessing. U.S. law states that nuclear trade will end if India resumes test- ing. But, though it has unilaterally declared a moratorium on the same, New Delhi refuses to relinquish its right to test and seeks an explicit guar- antee that contracted fuel will contin- 12 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / J U LY- A U G U S T 2 0 0 7 C Y B E R N O T E S