PACIFIC
Written by Drake Long
While the ISA Council could not agree on regulations, it did agree that it would from now on have oversight over the seabed mining application process instead of the ISA’s exclusive Legal and Technical Commission.
Written by Thierry Lepani
As much is yet to be seen with the Australian and US pacts, a potential pact with China should cater to PNG’s problems, rather than solely serving as a solution to China’s strategic positioning in the Pacific.
Written by Varenya Singh and Chetan Rana
China's persistent rejection of the tribunal's jurisdiction and ruling, along with its continuous assertion of sovereignty, underscores the limitations of international legal mechanisms in addressing deep-rooted geopolitical disputes.
The South China Sea remains one of the most potentially explosive regions in the world. What role can regional actors and organisations play in de-escalating the conflict and putting an end to the escalatory trends witnessed in 2023?
We invite several experts to assess the prospects for stability in 2024.
Written by Bonnie Holster and Nicholas Ross Smith
Beyond the changing language of New Zealand’s strategic communications, its experimentation with a kaupapa Maori foreign policy has the potential to be transformative.
Written by Liam Moore
While alarmist reports of massive numbers of people potentially fleeing across borders because of climate change are incorrect and misunderstand the dynamics of migration, mobility — both within and between states — is a reality in the Pacific.
Written by Dr Reuben Steff
While China’s activities are concerning, it should be made clear to Beijing that NZ’s and others’ responses in the security sphere are dependent on China’s approach to the region.
Written by Thierry Lepani
As China and the US push for greater influence in the Pacific, Papua New Guinea has seemingly become the first port of call for the two nations to solidify their standing in the region.
Written by Dr Michael Wesley
If large numbers of Solomon Islanders see Australia as an indispensable partner, it will limit the ability of the country’s elected politicians to build closer partnerships with Australia’s strategic competitors in the Pacific.
Written by Sian Troath
Whether people oppose the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines, have mixed views, or support it, they often do ground their assessments in strategic analysis and a consideration of other priorities.
Written by Kina Kunz
If the current trend continues, we may be witnessing New Zealand in the process of edging away from its hedging position and instead committing to the US bloc in this ‘new Cold War’.
Written by Xuyang Dong
Australia is being remade into an active and helpful middle power in its region with its own agency, constructively and strategically navigating its presence in the geopolitics of growing China-US rivalry.
Written by Corey Lee Bell and Elena Collinson
The approaching milestone on Bougainville’s journey to independence could once again see China escalating its efforts.
Written by Dr Lucas Knotter
While it is tempting to view the relatively small island of Bougainville as merely drifting into the geopolitical whirlwinds of more powerful actors in the region, we should not forget that Bougainville also maintains considerable leverage in relation to these actors.
With Australian elections ushering in a change of government and Aotearoa New Zealand’s planned parliamentary elections this year, 9DASHLINE sought the views of several experts on the state of both nations’ foreign and defence policies.
9DASHLINE asks several experts for their assessment of the prospects for Pacific Island agency in 2023 international politics, especially beyond the 'big power influence' by the US and China that has so often been written about in 2022.
9DASHLINE invited a select group of experts to assess how the Kishida administration’s policies on domestic, international, economic, and security issues will differ from the Abe administration.
As a reinvigorated Quad steps up its engagement, some observers have called for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue to establish a permanent presence in the Indo-Pacific via a standing maritime force. But how viable is this idea?
Written by Ridvan Kilic
Ultimately, in order to secure its maritime boundary in the North Natuna Sea, Indonesia needs the support of like-minded strategic partners from the Quad more than ever.
Written by Sankaran Krishna and Aditi Malhotra
If the other members of the Quad harden their stance against the Chinese, India will find it increasingly difficult to continue its balancing act of being part of a group hostile to the very country on which its own economic survival depends.
Written by Melissa Conley Tyler
Australia’s export industries will hope to see progress in the coming months. Because the trade restrictions were not formalised, they are easy and quick to reverse — if there is the political will to do so.
Written by Reuben Steff and Martin Jirušek
Should war or a system of neo-Cold War style blocs emerge, it will be US allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific that form the new frontlines and that have the most to lose.
Written by Bec Strating
The IPE constitutes a form of ‘normative seapower’ through efforts to exert influence and shape perceptions within the crowded maritime marketplace of norms, ideas, and narratives.
Written by Ian Hall
New Delhi clearly believes — rightly — that India’s relationship with the United States, underpinned by a shared interest in better managing China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific, is sufficiently robust to weather disagreement over this war.
Written by Joe Varner
The strategic importance of the Russian Pacific Fleet has never been greater to Moscow than it is now as the key means to engage and support Chinese foreign policy objectives in the Indo-Pacific and beyond.
Written by Meg Taylor DBE and Soli Middleby
While all nations share an interest in promoting a peaceful, safe, and prosperous region, the independent Pacific states do not necessarily share the same geostrategic perspectives as the large powerful economies of the industrialised West.
Written by Rushali Saha
The Biden administration’s expansion of the geographic definition of the Indo-Pacific to include the entire Indian Ocean, while a positive first step, is merely a symbolic move unless complemented with concrete policy action.
Written by Melissa Conley Tyler and Tom Barber
With a potential submarine capability gap, troubled procurement projects, and overall, a limited funding envelope in a deteriorating strategic environment, few would envy the Defence Minister’s job.
Written by Henrietta McNeill and Joanne Wallis
This week’s meeting, and President Biden’s meeting with Pacific leaders, will both be key signals for how Pacific states are responding to the US’ sudden renewed interest in the region.
Written by Phuong Mai Tran
Obviously, the EU must prioritise Europe’s defence. The important question here is whether its Indo-Pacific strategy would be affected as a result.