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  • 1 Dec 2023
    • Defence & Security
    • France
    • Climate change
    • Pacific Islands

    France as a convening power in the Pacific: The Nouméa SPDMM

    Céline Pajon
    A little known regional dialogue offers France and other countries a chance to contribute to the “Pacific way”.
  • 27 Nov 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea: Learning the lessons of language

    Hannah Sarvasy
    Preserving PNG’s linguistic kaleidoscope is as much a connection with the past as a path to the future.
  • 24 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • China
    • Taiwan
    • Pacific Islands
    • Sex and Gender

    China and Taiwan are big Pacific donors – but not for gender equality

    Jessica Collins
    More clarity on the flows of funds would help to assign what little credit is due.
  • 23 Nov 2023
    • Technology
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific
    • Fiji
    • Nauru
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu
    • Vanuatu

    Digital dominoes: Australia’s strategic play in the Pacific

    Mihai Sora
    Enhancing the region’s digital connectivity goes beyond influence. It’s about sharing prosperity and security, too.
  • 22 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Sex and Gender

    Does Australia’s walk match its talk about helping Pacific women advance?

    Jessica Collins
    Big dollars are one thing, meaningful outcomes another.
  • 21 Nov 2023
    • Pacific Islands

    A Pacific “zone of peace” – what will it entail?

    Patrick Kaiku , Faith Hope Boie
    An effort is underway to ensure Pacific concepts are not co-opted by geopolitical competition.
  • 20 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Sex and Gender

    Pacific Aid Map: Big data gaps are skewing the story about women

    Jessica Collins
    Better reporting is needed to properly understand which projects are targeting gender issues in the region.
  • 17 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Southeast Asia
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands

    Australian development cooperation: Urgent and important, but “not a priority”

    Richard Moore
    Development policy contradictions reveal the failure of the DFAT-AusAID integration.
  • 14 Nov 2023
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Tuvalu

    A Pacific union: Australia-Tuvalu deal goes well beyond climate

    Donald R Rothwell
    This tailored arrangement has implications for AUKUS, legal proceedings, as well as the potential resettlement of climate refugees.
  • 1 Nov 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea

    Loans, not grants, already proving costly for PNG

    Maholopa Laveil
    The latest Pacific Aid Map shows the PNG debt burden is growing and risks loom on the horizon.
  • 31 Oct 2023
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Australian Development Assistance
    • Australian Foreign Aid
    • Debt
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific

    Infrastructure for influence: Pacific Islands building spree

    Meg Keen
    Even with stabilising debt and higher revenues, the region’s needs still outpace funding. Partnerships are key.
  • 17 Oct 2023
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Technology
    • Pacific Islands
    • Sex and Gender

    Empowering women in the Pacific: A collaborative effort to confront online abuse

    Julie Inman Grant
    A regional symposium was an important step in tackling technology-facilitated gender-based violence.
  • 3 Oct 2023
    • France
    • Pacific Islands
    • New Caledonia

    New Caledonia: Independence leader wins French Senate seat over Macron favourite

    Denise Fisher
    An extraordinary result further complicates France’s hope of securing early agreement about the future.
  • 2 Oct 2023
    • Australia
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Pacific Islands

    French criticism of nuclear ban treaty highlights Canberra’s dilemma

    Nic Maclellan
    Can Australia rebuild a strategic military partnership with France at the same time as independence movements claim Pacific support?
  • 29 Sep 2023
    • Japan
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific
    • Fiji
    • Nauru
    • New Zealand
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Vanuatu

    Japan risks its reputation in Oceania with Fukushima discharge

    Derek Grossman
    A rollcall of Pacific Island nations have very different views on the release of treated radioactive wastewater.
  • 22 Sep 2023
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Vanuatu
    • United States

    The US–Pacific Islands Partnership, one year on

    Meg Keen , Daniel Mandell
    Recognising that it cannot go it alone, Washington needs to coordinate its development efforts with like-minded partners.    
  • 31 Aug 2023
    • Climate change
    • Human rights
    • Pacific Islands

    Cultural security in the Pacific: Why it matters for regional security

    Anna Naupa
    Of all the complex and evolving threats to the region’s cultural heritage, climate change remains the most calamitous.
  • 30 Aug 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Recommendations

    The Fix: Talking about the Pacific

    Jessica Collins
    An Interpreter weekly feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed.
  • 28 Aug 2023
    • Southeast Asia
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    Indo-Pacific strategy: Uniting all the players on the board

    Saba Sattar
    Trouble in the Pacific shows that an aligned approach across the sub-regions is essential in the contest with China.
  • 21 Aug 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea

    Putting a PNG stamp on security

    Meg Keen , Mihai Sora
    As world players jostle for influence, the price of admission may be stronger economic engagement.
  • 16 Aug 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Recommendations

    The Fix: We still really don’t know PNG

    Maholopa Laveil
    Your weekly Interpreter feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed.
  • 15 Aug 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Vanuatu

    Vanuatu: No confidence, but in whom?

    Siobhan McDonnell
    Australian diplomacy must be examined after a supposed security deal leaves the local government teetering.
  • 14 Aug 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Pacific Islands

    What does the new International Development Policy mean for the Pacific?

    Jessica Collins , Meg Keen
    Australia has outlined its case for being the preferred regional partner, but the Pacific needs less talk and more action.
  • 10 Aug 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji

    Young voices on Fiji’s new political era

    Mere Nailatikau , Lavetanalagi Seru
    Six months after a democratic transformation, a new government strides ahead – with the biggest hurdles still to come.
  • 7 Aug 2023
    • Japan
    • Nuclear Non-Proliferation, Arms Control and Disarmament
    • Nuclear Weapons
    • Pacific Islands
    • United States

    For America’s atomic bomb legacy, the past is present

    Daniel Mandell
    The fallout of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – as well as nuclear testing in the Pacific – continues to hang over the US regional reputation.
  • 4 Aug 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Global Issues
    • Pacific Islands
    • Africa
    • Sex and Gender

    Women belong everywhere and this World Cup proves football can be the great equaliser

    Jessica Collins
    Respect for female athletes “tearing it up on the pitch” must translate into respect off the field, too.
  • 2 Aug 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Recommendations

    The Fix: Long road to inspiration

    Meg Keen
    An Interpreter feature about issues, resources or helpful distractions that might otherwise be missed.
  • 2 Aug 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea

    Can PNG afford more debt?

    Maholopa Laveil
    Betting on the potential of future resource wealth has proved a risky strategy. History holds valuable economic lessons.
  • 31 Jul 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Solomon Islands

    A call for medical détente in the Pacific Islands

    Eileen Natuzzi
    Pooling the expertise and resources of development partners is a win not only for regional healthcare but soft diplomacy.
  • 28 Jul 2023
    • Defence & Security
    • Pacific Islands
    • Solomon Islands

    Solomon Islands: Invest in people and police before military

    Alan C. Tidwell , Meg Keen , Anna Powles , Jose Sousa-Santos , Anouk Ride
    Australia and foreign partners should work with existing institutions. A new military capability could make matters worse.
  • 13 Jul 2023
    • Climate change
    • Pacific Islands

    Samoa and the Alliance of Small Islands States show climate security is also about loss and damage

    George Carter , Athaulla A Rasheed
    Adaptation and mitigation strategies alone will not be enough to recover from the effects of climate change.
  • 10 Jul 2023
    • Pacific Islands

    Military hospital ships from China and the US are plying across Pacific Islands. But this growing competition can do more harm than good

    Eileen Natuzzi
    Large white hulled ships are big public relations yet do little to address significant health system issues in the region.
  • 30 Jun 2023
    • Japan
    • Environment
    • Pacific Islands

    The looming fate of Fukushima’s contaminated water

    Daniel Mandell
    Environmental concerns in the Pacific also come with political risks for Japan’s prime minister.
  • 23 Jun 2023
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Pacific Islands

    Bracing for 3000 Pacific Engagement Visas

    Natasha Turia-Moka , Akka Rimon , Michael Kabuni , Jope Tarai
    Australia’s new permanent resident scheme must prioritise the people of the Blue Pacific who will be most impacted.
  • 22 Jun 2023
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Public Opinion

    Lowy Poll 2023: Australians still jittery about China in the Pacific

    Jessica Collins
    Just like Pacific nations themselves, the public are waiting to see pledges by new government translated into outcomes.
  • 11 May 2023
    • China
    • Pacific Islands
    • Solomon Islands

    The disproportionate attention on the Solomons-China security pact

    Ilan Kiloe
    A tendency to “securitise” problems via a geopolitical lens only downplays legitimate aspirations of local communities.
  • 4 May 2023
    • Global Issues
    • Sustainability
    • Pacific Islands

    The cost of crime and corruption on Pacific fisheries

    Jade Lindley
    The need for a well-funded response to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing has never been greater.
  • 4 May 2023
    • Australian Defence Force
    • Defence & Security
    • Pacific Islands

    The case for opening the ADF to citizens of Pacific Islands nations

    David Van
    The potential benefits in a contested region extend far beyond a military need.
  • 27 Apr 2023
    • Pacific Islands

    Bringing the Blue Pacific and Indo-Pacific narratives together

    Sandra Tarte
    More than a distraction, geopolitical competition shapes the regional security agenda – and that carries opportunity.
  • 20 Apr 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Australia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Solomon Islands

    Questions about Australian aid to fund the Pacific Games

    Stephen Howes
    Australia is backing a sports tournament over urgent development needs, and doing so may break international aid rules.
  • 18 Apr 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific
    • Melanesia
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • United States

    Not the Indo-Pacific: a Melanesian view on strategic competition

    Patrick Kaiku
    The states of the southwest Pacific are not interested in a zero-sum contest between the United States and China.
  • 14 Apr 2023
    • Australia
    • Diplomacy
    • Climate change
    • Multilateral Institutions
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands

    A strategy for engaging for small developing states

    Hamish Fejo
    If Australia is serious about climate change, it needs better relationships with island nations – near and far.
  • 11 Apr 2023
    • France
    • Pacific Islands
    • New Caledonia

    France tightens the screws in New Caledonia

    Denise Fisher
    Pro-independence leaders believe time is on their side, but the French government sees little room for compromise.
  • 31 Mar 2023
    • Climate change
    • Pacific Islands

    Climate change: We know what to do, the Pacific needs us to act, now

    Meg Keen , Hamish Fejo
    Pacific Island nations are taking legal action as the latest IPCC report reveals things are still getting worse.
  • 30 Mar 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji
    • Review

    Fiji: lessons under a dictator’s heel

    Ariela Zibiah
    Laisenia Qarase’s prison memoir after he was deposed in a coup tells a national story to cherish freedoms.
  • 23 Mar 2023
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea

    Papua New Guinea: media under threat

    Thierry Lepani
    A new draft government policy is set to put journalistic freedoms to the test.
  • 20 Mar 2023
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Pacific Islands

    AUKUS in the Pacific: Calm with undercurrents

    Meg Keen
    Pacific neighbours understand the drivers behind Australia’s bid for nuclear-powered subs, but still harbour concerns.
  • 8 Mar 2023
    • Asia
    • Pacific Islands
    • Sex and Gender

    “Amplify their voice”: Promoting gender equity in Asia and the Pacific

    Daniel Flitton
    The regional head of UN Women has a simple but crucial message on this International Women’s Day.
  • 27 Feb 2023
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Pacific Islands
    • Papua New Guinea

    Answers needed on the Pacific Engagement Visa

    Akka Rimon , Michael Kabuni , Jope Tarai , Natasha Turia-Moka
    Beyond practicalities, it’s unclear whether this is a genuine “Pacific family” partnership or geopolitical convenience?
  • 30 Jan 2023
    • Aid & Development
    • Pacific Islands

    Getting it together: Pacific engagement still lacks coordination

    Meg Keen
    Showing collective action across countries and sectors is essential to Pacific development and winning friends.
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