7 June 2012

For immediate release

PATRIOT GAMES

The Pacific Institute of Public Policy has launched its latest discussion paper on Pacific geopolitics – from an island viewpoint.

It seems everyone is ‘pivoting’ into the Pacific these days.

Around the region, new alliances, new fault-lines and new opportunities are opening up after decades of sleepy neglect.

For Pacific island nations caught in the middle of this new Great Game, many are no longer pliant islanders accepting whatever fate deals them, but active, engaged players deciding their own alliances and future.

Unlike yesteryear, when slow communications and hesitant leadership meant island communities generally went along with our more powerful patrons, today light-speed communications, assertive diplomacy and a feast of choices make Pacific states far more independent – and flexible – in our external relations.

For the traditional Pacific powers, nothing can be taken for granted anymore.

We hear much analysis from US think tanks, Chinese Generals, Australian academics and EU attachés about what the Asia-Pacific Century means, and how the great powers will co- operate or contest in this vast region. But almost nowhere do we hear what Pacific islanders themselves think or want – as if all the big decisions will be made for us, as the islands once again merely provide the backdrop for an international geopolitical chess game.

This is dangerous for all sides; for islanders who might have to face a battlefield at home if leaders miscalculate alliance politics; and for superpowers who don’t understand Pacific island culture and might find their best-made plans suddenly come unstuck due to local sensitivities.

This paper provides a platform for Pacific island strategists to be heard amid the superpower rivalry.

It also points to many of the themes to be highlighted when the institute hosts its annual Pacific Debate next week, bringing four of the region’s key strategic thinkers for an informed discussion on the future of Pacific geopolitics.

The full discussion paper can be downloaded here.

For more information contact Talita on +678 29842 or ttuipulotu@pacificpolicy.org or visit our website www.pacificpolicy.org.

The Pacific Institute of Public Policy (PiPP) is an independent not-for-profit think tank that exists to stimulate and support informed policy debate in and about Pacific island countries. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 7th, 2012 at 10:55 am and is filed under Discussion Starters. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.