Mihai Sora

Program Director, Pacific Islands
Mihai Sora
Biography
Publications
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Mihai Sora is Program Director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute. The Program has a policy research focus on contemporary challenges facing the Pacific Islands region, including geostrategic competition, sustainable economic development, governance, and leadership. The Program comprises four major projects: the Pacific Research Program, the Geopolitics in the Pacific Project, the Australia-PNG Network Project, and the FDC Pacific Fellow Endowment.

Mihai’s research focus is on regional dynamics and the role of the United States, China, and Australia in the Pacific. His analysis has appeared in the Australian Financial Review, The Australian, The Guardian, and The Interpreter. Mihai’s commentary has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and other major international outlets.

Before joining the Lowy Institute, Mihai was an Australian diplomat, with postings to Solomon Islands and Indonesia, and short-term deployments throughout the Pacific. Mihai was a Pacific Analyst at the Office of National Assessments.

Shared History, Shared Future: the next 50 years of Australia–Papua New Guinea relations
Report
Shared History, Shared Future: the next 50 years of Australia–Papua New Guinea relations
Outcomes from the 2025 Australia–Papua New Guinea Network Emerging Leaders Dialogue, 26–30 May 2025, Port Moresby
A Pacific Eyes intelligence-sharing agreement
Policy Brief
A Pacific Eyes intelligence-sharing agreement
Converging transnational and geopolitical threats call for a dedicated framework to transform regional security cooperation.
Australia-PNG: When mutual defence becomes mutual embarrassment
Australia-PNG: When mutual defence becomes mutual embarrassment
It was always going to be a hurdle for PNG to change its non-aligned foreign policy.
A test of unity: Can the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ meeting keep the family together
A test of unity: Can the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ meeting keep the family together
Pacific leaders will gather in Honiara for big declarations on security and climate, but regional fragmentation poses a pressing challenge.
Australia pays premium price for Pacific partnership
Australia pays premium price for Pacific partnership
Vanuatu has just shown how small states can rewrite the rules – and the cheques – on their own terms.
Australia overtakes China in the Pacific as America vacates the lane
Australia overtakes China in the Pacific as America vacates the lane
Public perceptions of influence measured in the latest Lowy Institute Poll see Australia surge ahead as the “permanent contest” unfolds.
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