Terry M. Brown
Independent Scholar, Hamilton, Canada
Keywords: Australia, intervention, peacemaking, RAMSI, Solomon Islands, sovereignty, special coordinator, state building
DOI: 10.5509/2024973-art2
Helpem Fren, Michael Wesley’s diplomatic history of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), the Australian-led multilateral intervention in Solomon Islands from 2003–2017, is a near definitive study of the intervention from an Australian perspective. As such, it shares some of the failures of RAMSI itself, such as overconfidence in its success. The reviewer, based on his experience of living in the Solomons during many years of the RAMSI intervention, examines both the strengths and weaknesses of RAMSI and this volume, its semi-official history. These include RAMSI’s early success in peacemaking and its more problematic long-term exercise in state building, including its inflexible entrenchment in law and justice, finance, and governance sectors to the exclusion of support for sustainable human development. The reviewer notes areas not dealt with in the book, including RAMSI’s cost and its relations with the Solomon Islands Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the churches. While Helpem Fren is an essential study for understanding the Australian role in RAMSI, its strictly Australian perspective calls for further critical study of RAMSI.
书评: 所罗门群岛区域援助任务(RAMSI)：它帮助还是伤害了朋友？
关键词: 澳大利亚、干预、维和、所罗门群岛区域援助任务、所罗门群岛、主权、特别协调员、国家构建
《Helpem Fren》是迈克尔·韦斯利关于所罗门群岛区域援助任务(RAMSI)的外交史著作，对2003至2017年期间澳大利亚领导下对所罗门群岛所进行的这一多边干预活动来说，此书是从澳大利亚视角所作的近乎盖棺定论的权威研究。正因为如此，它自己也沾染了RAMSI的一些失败之处，诸如对于其成功的过度自信。书评作者基于RAMSI干预期间在所罗门群岛生活多年的经历，考察了RAMSI及其半官方史著作的优点和缺点。这包括RAMSI早期在维和方面的成功，以及在国家构建方面问题较多的长期性活动，包括其在巩固法律和司法、金融和治理部门时缺乏弹性，排除了对可持续性人类发展的支持。书评者指出了书中未能关注的领域， 包括RAMSI的成本，以及它与所罗门群岛真相与和解委员会和教会的关系。尽管《Helpem Fren》 对于理解澳大利亚在RAMSI中的作用来说至关重要，但是它过于拘泥于澳大利亚视角，因此对我们提出了进一步批判性地研究RAMSI的需要。