Programs & Projects

South Pacific Fragile States

South Pacific Fragile States

In 2017 and 2018 a project by the Lowy Institute on South Pacific Fragile States produced independent research and forward-looking analysis on the key drivers of instability in the South Pacific, and the associated security challenges for Australia and the wider region. This included examining geopolitical challenges within an increasingly crowded and complex regional environment, domestic stresses faced by South Pacific nation states, and non-traditional challenges, such as climate change and transnational crime, that may destabilise the South Pacific.

The Project included workshops and roundtables which brought together external experts and government officials in an effort to build genuinely strategic approaches to complex issues relating to a broad national and regional security issues. The findings of the project were published through analysis papers, a series of online articles in the Interpreter, and were presented to the Australian government and wider public in a conference in early 2018.

The South Pacific Fragile State Project was funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Defence.

Photo: Getty Images/DeAgostini

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Understanding resilience and fragility in the South Pacific
Understanding resilience and fragility in the South Pacific
This post is part of the Lowy Institute's South Pacific Fragile States series. After the US withdrawal from both the Paris Accord and Trans-Pacific Partnership, the Pacific…
US exit from Paris deal marks end of influence in South Pacific
Commentary
US exit from Paris deal marks end of influence in South Pacific
Originally published in the Asian Nikkei Review. Greg Colton
Strategy must include planning for peace, not just war
Commentary
Strategy must include planning for peace, not just war
Originally published in the Canberra Times. Greg Colton
Australia calling: How to fight external electoral manipulation in the South Pacific
Australia calling: How to fight external electoral manipulation in the South Pacific
Security concerns about external subversion of national elections show no sign of abating. On 3 May, James Comey, then still Director of the FBI, testified to the US Senate…