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Defence diplomacy in the Pacific
Joanne Wallis | February 1, 2024Rather 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.
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Smooth sailing or choppy waters?
Joanne Wallis | May 22, 2023Australia, 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.
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Scholarships as a tool of statecraft
Joanne Wallis | April 6, 2023Australia 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.
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Partnering with the Pacific
Joanne Wallis | March 11, 2023As 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.
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The Pacific Islands Forum can learn from ASEAN
Joanne Wallis | August 15, 2022Pacific 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.
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A new track for Pacific policy?
Joanne Wallis | July 12, 2022Thanks 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?
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Locking in Pacific security
Joanne Wallis | July 11, 2022The 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.
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Talk to, not at, the Pacific
Joanne Wallis | March 29, 2022Institutionalising 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.
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Tongan eruption highlights lack of coordination in regional response
Joanne Wallis | January 30, 2022Allied 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.
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AUKUS and Australia’s relations in the Pacific
Joanne Wallis | November 8, 2021The 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.
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Resolving Samoa’s democratic crisis
Joanne Wallis | June 4, 2021Samoa is facing a political impasse as caretaker Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi faces off against his former deputy Fiame Naomi Mata’afa.
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One step forward, two steps back in the Pacific
Joanne Wallis | June 27, 2019Australia’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.