Pacific Islands
The Pacific Ocean not only serves as a vital link of people, goods, and technology between Australia, the Americas, and Asia, but is also home to the Pacific Islands – from Papua New Guinea to the West to French Polynesia to the East. Not least since the global debate on climate change and its effects has gained traction have the island countries taken centre stage. Apart from facing potentially devastating environmental, social, and political consequences as a result, the region is also increasingly finding itself in the middle of an intensifying geopolitical power competition.
The Pacific Islands Project aims to provide a platform for knowledge-building and debate on the multi-faceted challenges the island countries are likely to face. Based on the premise that raising awareness forms an integral part of improving understanding, the project will place particular emphasis on bridging the knowledge gap between local experiences and a growing European interest in the region. Through in-depth research and the facilitation of dialogue, ISDP actively contributes to raising awareness and improving understanding of the most pressing challenges the Pacific Islands face now and in the future.
Related Publications
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First Fiji, Then the World
How the prime minister of a tiny group of Pacific islands has become an international power player. See original article in Foreign Policy here. Immediately after his election victory in […]
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The Question of Guam: A Pivotal Island’s Changing Realities
Abstract For decades, Guam has played an important role in U.S. military strategy. The two main military bases in the island, Anderson Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam, have […]
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Fijian Leadership in the Pacific: Charting a New Course?
Summary Amidst a changing geopolitical environment, issues of domestic politics, social concerns, as well as climate change related risks, the Pacific island nation of Fiji has set out on a […]
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Taiwan-Marshall Islands Relations: Against the Tide
Introduction The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is among a handful of countries to still recognize the Republic of China (ROC)*, one of four in the South Pacific. Two […]
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Separatism in the South Pacific: From Bougainville to West Papua
Introduction Bougainville, an autonomous island region of Papua New Guinea (PNG) on its easternmost edges, has just voted in an independence referendum that resulted in a 97 percent majority in […]
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Deep Seabed Minerals: A New Frontier in the Pacific Region
Minerals, such as rare earth metals, are increasingly becoming an important commodity in a resource-constrained world economy. As a result new frontiers both onshore and offshore, to the depths of […]