Defence diplomacy in the Pacific

Rather than encouraging bilateralism, Australia’s defence diplomacy should advance an approach that bolsters cooperation and capacity to respond to security challenges under the auspices of regional institutions such as the Pacific Islands Forum.

Smooth sailing or choppy waters?

Australia, New Zealand and the US are working hard to build trust and demonstrate their reliability to their Pacific partners, but much work remains to be done.

Scholarships as a tool of statecraft

Australia is deploying a range of tools of statecraft to try to improve its relationships with Pacific Island countries and peoples. One of the focuses of Australian statecraft is developing “people-to-people connections,” with education, sports, media, cultural, and church partnerships seen as integral to these connections.

Partnering with the Pacific

As Vanuatu starts the long road to recovery from tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin, which hit in quick succession over the past week, it’s an opportune time for Australia, New Zealand and the US to discuss how to improve their collective response to disasters in the region.

The Pacific Islands Forum can learn from ASEAN

Pacific Islands Forum members could consider what ARF mechanisms might be usefully adapted to the Pacific context to ensure that Pacific regionalism is an effective buffer and bulwark in the face of strategic competition.

A new track for Pacific policy?

Thanks to the efforts of Penny Wong, the new Labor government has hit the ground running in the Pacific, but will it set policy on the right track?

Locking in Pacific security

The Pacific Island Forum should create a forum like the ASEAN Regional Forum to provide opportunities for Pacific states to collectively engage with partners on security matters.

Talk to, not at, the Pacific

Institutionalising a program of track 1.5 dialogues between officials and non-government experts from Australia, New Zealand, other partners and the Pacific would build understanding of the region, enhance relationships, deepen trust and provide a platform for Pacific voices and perspectives.

Tongan eruption highlights lack of coordination in regional response

Allied security cooperation in the Pacific has been tested by two recent crises: the Solomon Island riots in November 2021 and the volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga earlier this month.

AUKUS and Australia’s relations in the Pacific

The new AUKUS defence agreements will boost Australia’s security, but may not reassure Pacific Island nations looking to China for finance and the world for action on climate change.

Resolving Samoa’s democratic crisis

Samoa is facing a political impasse as caretaker Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi faces off against his former deputy Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.

One step forward, two steps back in the Pacific

Australia’s attempts to enhance its influence in the Pacific Islands will only succeed through policies that also serve the national interests of Pacific Island states.