A major development in the South Pacific's political situation in the past ten years has been a perceptible shift of emphasis in the foreign policies of its two regional powers- Australia and New Zealand, towards the region. In the post-World War II period, the fear of Japanese militarist resurgence led these two countries to join ANZUS, the only security alliance in the region, under the US leadership in 1951. Sharing the Western perception of communist China as a growing imperialist threat, Australia and  New Zealand joined the anti-communist front in the Asia-Pacific - Southeast Asia Treaty Organisation  (SEATO), in 1954 and followed a pro-Western line of foreign policy  on major international issues. They not only maintained close diplomatic and economic relations with Britain and the USA but also remained committed partners in promoting US security interests in the region, ensuring the denial of any strategic access or influence to the Soviet Union in the Cold War rivalry between the Super Powers.

Since the beginning of the past decade, however, the realities of their  geographical location has come to count more in the foreign policies of Australia and New Zealand than their traditional links with the West. In fact, with the British decision to withdraw from the east of Suez in 1967 and US president Nixon's Guam Doctrine in  1969, announcing US involvement in the region only in case of an external threat, these  two countries started focussing attentions towards their immediate region. A number of  steps were taken by Australia and New Zealand to develop close relations with Asian  countries in the 1970s. Since the mid-1980s, the two countries have come up with well formulated policies to develop self-reliance in their defense  preparedness on the one hand and to increase their role in the South Pacific affairs which may be explained as following.