Security in the Pacific Islands

What are the major security challenges facing the Pacific Islands region? How can Australia help respond to them?    

The Pacific Islands region occupies 15 percent of the earth’s surface, including more than 30 million km2 of the Pacific Ocean. Amid rising global geopolitical tensions, the large ocean island states of the ‘’ are increasingly perceived as a site of strategic competition. Partners such as Australia, New Zealand, the United States, China, France, Japan, and the United Kingdom have all increased their engagement with the region. Australia has long identified the strategic importance of the Pacific Islands, with the security of the region ranked second only to the security of Australia in the order of its strategic priorities.                

But while aware that the geopolitics of their region is ‘crowded and complex’, in the Pacific Islands Forum’s 2018 , Pacific Island leaders made clear that they are primarily concerned with addressing an ‘expanded concept of security inclusive of human security’, which includes ‘prioritising environmental security, and regional cooperation in building resilience to disasters and climate change’.                

Our program focuses on the security challenges facing the Pacific Islands and examines how Australia pursues its security in the region and beyond. Key questions include:                

  • How do Pacific Island governments, civil society groups, and communities understand ‘security’ and what are their security priorities?
  • How should Australia respond to security challenges in the Pacific Islands?                                    
  • How will geopolitical competition in the Pacific Islands impact Pacific Island countries and Australia and what should they do in response?
  • How can security cooperation in the Pacific Islands best be orientated to address current and future regional security challenges?                                    
  • How are states seeking to influence or interfere in Pacific Island countries and regional politics? 

People

  • , Professor of International Security and Research Program Director, Security in the Pacific Islands
  • , Pacific Research Fellow
  • Henrietta McNeill, Research Associate
  • Priestley Habru, PhD Scholar
  • William Waqavakatoga, PhD Scholar
  • , PhD Scholar
  • Salote Tagivakatini, PhD Scholar

Projects

  • Journal articles


    Joanne Wallis and Czeslaw Tubilewicz
    European Journal of International Security
    4 November 2024


    Maima Koro and Henrietta McNeill
    Asia & the Pacific Policy Studies
    18 July 2024


    Joanne Wallis, Emily Conroy, and Cayleigh Stock
    Geopolitics
    5 February 2024


    William Waqavakatoga and Joanne Wallis
    Oxford Encyclopedia of International Studies
    22 November 2023


    Joanne Wallis
    Political Geography
    October 2023


    Meg Taylor, Priestley Habru, Solstice Middleby, Anna Naupa, and Jope Tarai
    Australian Journal of International Affairs
    13 October 2023


    Joanne Wallis, Maima Koro, and Corey O'Dwyer
    The Pacific Review
    31 August 2023


    Maima Koro, Henrietta McNeill, Henry Ivarature, and Joanne Wallis
    Political Geography
    August 2023


    Joanne Wallis and Rebecca Strating
    Marine Policy
    July 2022


    Joanne Wallis, Angus Ireland, Isabel Robinson, and Alicia Turner
    Australian Journal of International Affairs
    13 April 2022


    Joanne Wallis
    Australian Journal of International Affairs
    9 July 2021

  • Policy Papers


    William Waqavakatoga
    National Bureau of Asian Research
    26 July 2024


    William Waqavakatoga and Joanne Wallis
    Security in Context
    28 May 2024


    William Waqavakatoga and Jack Corbett
    ODI Global
    18 May 2024


    Maima Koro
    Asia-Pacific Leadership Network
    2 August 2023


    Joanne Wallis and Henrietta McNeill
    National Bureau of Asian Research
    21 March 2023


    Joanne Wallis
    Centre for Historical Analysis and Conflict Research, British Army
    21 September 2022


    Joanne Wallis and Rebecca Strating
    National Bureau of Asian Research
    11 January 2022


    Joanne Wallis and Rebecca Strating
    Griffith Asia Institute
    2021


    Joanne Wallis
    International Institute for Strategic Studies
    June 2021

  • Opinion pieces


    Joanne Wallis and Jack Corbett
    9 December 2024


    Maima Koro and Henrietta McNeill
    11 September 2024


    Priestley Habru and Claudina Habru
    2 May 2024


    William Waqavakatoga
    16 January 2024


    Priestley Habru and Samantha Magick
    14 December 2023


    Maima Koro
    9 November 2023

    Ìý´¥
    Joanne Wallis
    1 August 2023


    William Waqavakatoga
    1 May 2023


    Derek Futaiasi, Priestley Habru, Maima Koro, William Waqavakatoga, and Henrietta McNeill
    14 April 2023


    William Waqavakatoga
    7 March 2023


    William Waqavakatoga
    13 December 2022


    Maima Koro and Henrietta McNeill
    11 July 2022


    Henrietta McNeill and Joanne Wallis
    12 September 2022


    Joanne Wallis and Ian Kemish
    9 August 2022


    Maima Koro and Henrietta McNeill        
    360info, 11 July 2022

           
    Joanne Wallis and Maima Koro        
    Australian Outlook, 7 July 2022        

           
    Joanne Wallis and Maima Koro        
    The Conversation, 27 May 2022  

           
    Joanne Wallis, Angus Ireland, Isabel Robinson, and Alicia Turner        
    Australian Outlook, 21 April 2022        

           
    Joanne Wallis and Czes Tubilewicz        
    The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 April 2022        

           
    Joanne Wallis and Czes Tubilewicz        
    ABC News, 25 March 2022