The French nuclear testing programme in the South Pacific attracted
worldwide condemnation, providing a rare opportunity for the
independence movement in French Polynesia to reach the international
stage. The Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement, formed in
1975, is a loose coalition of non-governmental organizations based in
the region receiving financial support from the United States and
Europe. This study brings together topics in international relations and
contemporary politics. These include nuclear testing and
non-proliferation, the aftermath of colonialism and the independence
movement, and the wider ramifications affecting regional Pacific
politics, the European Union, Australisia and the United States.