Cultural diplomacy: Australia’s chance in the Pacific

With DFAT currently conducting a review of Australia’s Soft Power Review, what is the potential for cultural diplomacy to help Australia achieve its foreign policy goals in the region?

Boe: a confluence

The Pacific’s new security agreement, signed by 18 Pacific Island Forum leaders on 5 September in the Boe district of Nauru, provides an effective framework to holistically address regional security concerns.

Tackling the strategic neglect of our Pacific island neighbours

Building better partnerships with our Pacific neighbours will require all parties to move beyond rhetoric and initiate a process of ‘deep listening’ to the leaders, the communities, and the Indigenous elders of the region.

Are we being played in the Pacific?

If you were trying to design a low-cost strategy to constrict the operational horizon of an important US ally in the region, China’s ploys in the Pacific wouldn’t be a bad model to examine.

Australia’s political instability damages the national interest

Australia is one of the most successful and stable countries in the world, but our ‘revolving door’ of prime ministers over the last decade has damaged our ability to pursue long term policies for the public good.

Tides of change in the South Pacific

The tides of geopolitics are lapping on South Pacific shores. The region is seeing greater activity from both China and Russia and the independence vote in New Caledonia is fast approaching. These developments raise significant strategic questions and are worth exploring in greater detail.

Australia at the Pacific Islands Forum: getting our priorities right

Scott Morrison’s absence from the Pacific Island Forum, and his non-appearance at the April 2018 Forum Economic Ministers’ Meeting, suggest that Australia’s continued claims about prioritising the Pacific might be more hyperbole than fact.

Sydney hosts the inaugural Pacific Connect Forum

The International Centre for Democratic Partnerships (ICDP) and Global Access Partners (GAP) are hosting the inaugural Pacific Connect Forum at NSW Parliament House on Thursday 6 September.

Diverging regional priorities at the Pacific Islands Forum

Pacific Island leaders are likely to assert their interests at the expense of Australia’s at this week’s Pacific Islands Forum in Nauru.

Getting realistic about the South Pacific

There are plenty of new ideas about boosting engagement with the South Pacific, but steadiness, consistency and a good dose of respect will serve Australia best in the long term.

French classes in Australia need to acknowledge our Pacific neighbours

We need to change the way French is taught to young Australians to sustain geo-political relations with French-speaking Pacific nations in the future.

Open hands beat clenched fists in the Pacific

A combination of simple and immediate steps, symbolic events that build interpersonal connections and some ‘crazy’ ideas whose time is coming could inspire better relations with our Pacific neighbours than fearful policies couched in the language of risk and competition.