MOANA NUI 2013 - Peoples of the Pacific--Confronting Globalization, Militarization, Resour

On June 1-2, the International Forum on Globalization (IFG), in collaboration with a broad range of Asian, indigenous and small-island peoples of the Pacific, and activists from countries throughout the Pacific Basin, will present a two-day series of public events in Berkeley. These events will be a continuation of the first Moana Nui gathering in Honolulu, November 2011, at the University of Hawaii, which IFG created in partnership with Pacific Island activist groups.

The direct purpose of Moana Nui 2013 is to respond to some of the greatest threats ever to face Pacific peoples. Recent shifts in United States economic and military strategies are having broad negative effects on the peoples, resources, economies and geopolitics of the Asia-Pacific region. These policy shifts, mostly under the Obama Administration program, "The Pacific Pivot," affect the future viability and sovereignty of indigenous peoples and small nations of the Pacific. And they greatly accelerate profoundly dangerous power struggles underway between the United States and China, and potentially Russia, over trade, ocean and island resources, and economic and military domination of an 8,000 mile region.

Some but not all of the luminaries who will be speaking include:

Victoria Tauli Corpuz: Igorot, Tebtebba Foundation, the Philippines
Rosa Koian: West Papua
Jerry Mander: International Forum on Globalization, U.S.
Christine Ahn: Korea Policy Institute; Global Fund for Women, U.S.
Walter Ritte: Native Hawaiian
Christine Hong: Korea Policy Institute, U.S.
Victor Menotti: International Forum on Globalization, U.S.
Galina Angarova: Buryat, Pacific Environment: Siberia/Mongolia
Anuradha Mittal: Asia-Pacific Land Grabbing, India/U.S.
Richard Heinberg: Post-Carbon Institute, U.S.
Michelle Chan: Friends of the Earth, U.S.
Jon Osorio: Native Hawaiian, Chair, Hawaiian Studies, U. of Hawaii
Ralph Regenvanu: Vanuatu National Cultural Council, Fiji
Arthur Stamoulis: Citizen's Trade Campaign, U.S.
Moana Jackson: Maori, Aotearoa
Julian Aguon: Chamorro, Guam
Melissa Nelson: Chippewa, U.S.
David Vine: author, "Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S, Military Base on Diego Garcia," U.S.
Kyle Kajihiro: Hawaii Peace and Justice, Hawaii
Joseph Gerson: American Friends Service Committee, U.S.
Dante Simbulan: Philippines
Bruce Gagnon: Global Network Against Nuclear Weapons in Space, U.S.
Bruce Cumings: author, "The Korean War: A History," U.S.
Michael Leon Guerrero: Chamorro, Grassroots Global Justice Alliance, U.S.