Skip to main content
The Interpreter

Interpreter - Menu Links

  • Articles
  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • About

Published daily by the Lowy Institute

  • 2 Oct 2025
    • Australia
    • Defence & Security
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Tonga

    Delays on the Pukpuk treaty with PNG were Australian missteps, not failures

    Blake Johnson
    The Papua New Guinea agreement represents a landmark not just for its signatories but the region as a whole.
  • 16 Sep 2025
    • Australia
    • Climate change
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji
    • Nauru
    • Samoa
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu

    Reality bites: Why the global dengue epidemic matters to Australia

    Philippa Nicole Barr
    The mosquito-borne disease is more than a health emergency – it symbolises the injustice of climate change.
  • 11 Apr 2025
    • Aid & Development
    • China
    • Tonga

    Comparing Chinese and Australian aid in Tonga: Visibility, pageantry and performance

    Riley Duke
    A case study in being seen to deliver.
  • 27 Nov 2024
    • Climate change
    • Technology
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji
    • Nauru
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Samoa
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu

    The Pacific disinformation playbook

    Meg Tapia
    A surge in connectivity has exacerbated the region’s challenges, undermining trust in science and government.
  • 6 Sep 2024
    • Pacific Islands
    • Tonga

    Tonga and His Majesty’s Armed Forces: A military made for peace

    Sheridan Ward
    This Pacific country avoided colonisation not by force, but by adopting the trappings of state. A next step awaits.
  • 26 Aug 2024
    • Transnational Challenges
    • Pacific Islands
    • Tonga

    The down-low on deportations and drugs in Tonga

    Henrietta McNeill
    The practice by Australia of sending criminals back to their home country can pose a risk to regional security without the proper reintegration support.
  • 21 Aug 2024
    • Climate change
    • United Nations
    • Pacific Islands
    • New Caledonia
    • Tonga

    Polycrisis in the Pacific: How leaders will respond at the PIF Summit in Tonga

    Mihai Sora
    A tiny capital will be host to a huge regional agenda.
  • 8 Aug 2024
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Global Economy
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific
    • Nauru
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu
    • Vanuatu

    Economic diplomacy: Banking on the Pacific

    Greg Earl
    Rebuilding regional banking is unlikely to pay dividends without an underlying business revival.
  • 11 Apr 2024
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Pacific Islands
    • China and the Pacific
    • Fiji
    • Nauru
    • New Zealand
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu
    • Vanuatu

    Pacific Engagement Visas: New developments but quotas unknown

    Natasha Turia , Akka Rimon
    Australia’s highly competitive new visa lottery has much leg work to do to make fair allocations between countries.
  • 14 Mar 2024
    • Pacific Islands
    • Tonga
    • Public Opinion
    • Public Opinion Polling

    Tongan attitudes to the world

    ‘Ungatea Fonua Kata , Jessica Collins
    A new poll reveals how the Pacific archipelago views US, Chinese and Australian influence.
  • 8 Mar 2024
    • Australia and the Pacific
    • Pacific Islands
    • Fiji
    • Nauru
    • Papua New Guinea
    • Solomon Islands
    • Tonga
    • Tuvalu
    • Sex and Gender

    State of play for Pacific women in 2024

    Jessica Collins
    When the playing field is levelled, the dividends are doubled, both in politics and sport.
  • 31 Jan 2024
    • Pacific Islands
    • Tonga

    Tonga walks a tightrope on its Chinese debts

    Riley Duke
    After a decade of delays, appeals and failed negotiations, Tonga has begun the process of repaying its sizable debt to China.
  • 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.
  • 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.    
  • 18 Nov 2022
    • Climate change
    • Environment
    • Migration
    • Pacific Islands
    • Tonga
    • Vanuatu

    Strengthening disaster resilience in the Pacific

    Sam Quinn
    The aftermath of Tonga’s massive volcanic eruption holds valuable lessons as climate change risks also grow.
  • 8 Feb 2022
    • Tonga

    The fallout from Tonga’s volcano goes deeper than the ashes

    Jessica Collins
    Local women are especially vulnerable following a disaster that compounds the challenges of the pandemic.
  • 5 Apr 2018
    • Pacific Islands
    • Tonga

    Girls shouldn’t play rugby because of “some female body parts”

    ‘Ofa-ki-Levuka (‘Ofa) Guttenbeil-Likiliki
    What the?

Subscribe to The Interpreter

Get the latest commentary and analysis on international events from experts at the Lowy Institute and around the world.

The Interpreter features in-depth analysis & expert commentary on the latest international events, published daily by the Lowy Institute.

© Copyright 2025 Lowy Institute

  • Debates
  • Contributors
  • Articles
  • About
  • Terms of Use
  • Log In
  • My bookmarks