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Politics

The Pacific Islands Forum, or PIF, endorsed the Pacific Policing Initiative, a $271 million initiative to establish four regional police training centers in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Micronesia over five years, Nikkei Asia reported on Aug. 28.

Australia, Pacific Islands: Summit Produces Regional Policing Agreement

France

French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that France would open a permanent defense mission in Fiji, and he detailed plans to grow France's training capacity for Pacific island countries' soldiers six-fold by opening a Pacific Academy in France's New Caledonia territory, Tahiti Info reported on Dec. 6.

France: Paris Strengthens Defense Cooperation With Pacific Island Countries

United States

Economics

U.S.-China Relations

French President Emmanuel Macron denounced "new imperialism" in the Pacific region during a visit to Vanuatu, Euronews reported on July 27.

Pacific Islands: Flurry of Visits Highlights Region's Growing Strategic Importance

Guardian-class patrol boats worth $1.4 billion that Australia is gifting to several Pacific Island nations were found to have significant structural faults, The Straits Times reported July 1.

Australia: Naval Vessels Gifted to Pacific Islands Have Significant Faults

Environment, Science & Technology

Security

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

China in Transition

Asia-Pacific: Among Great Powers

Science & Technology

An eruption of Tonga's Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano and subsequent tsunami on Jan. 15 caused a failure in the island nation’s only underwater sea cable, which services its internet and telecommunications needs, The Conversation reported Jan. 17.

Tonga: Cable Failure Reveals Increasing Competition Between World Powers in Pacific

Tonga's prime minister has reversed an Aug. 16 call on neighbors to focus on regional countries' unsustainable levels of debt to China when they meet for the upcoming Pacific Islands Forum, ABC Radio Australia reported Aug. 20.

Tonga: Prime Minister Rescinds Call to Unite Against Chinese Debt

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After two weeks of negotiations, representatives of nearly 200 countries have approved the Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the extent of climate change in the coming decades, The Telegraph reported Dec. 12.

France: Delegates Approve Paris Climate Change Deal

Economics and Finance

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At the 22nd Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit at Yanqi Lake Chinese President Xi Jinping said Beijing will contribute $10 million and 1,500 apprenticeship positions to assist regional economic integration, SCMP reported Nov, 11.

China: Funding And Apprenticeships Bestowed On APEC

Assessments

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky holds a flag during a ceremony on Ukraine's Independence Day on Aug. 24, 2023, in Kyiv, Ukraine. 

Israel-Hamas Conflict

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Gaza Cease-Fire Talks Resume, Ukraine Observes Third Post-Invasion Independence Day

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister James Marapeand, the Cook Islands' Prime Minister Mark Brown, U.S. President Joe Biden and Kiribati's President Taneti Maamau at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) as part of the U.S.-PIF summit at the White House on Sept. 25, 2023, in Washington, D.C.

Despite Washington's desire to strengthen ties with Pacific island nations, political constraints may leave a regional void that China is happy to fill.

Strategic Goals and Political Hurdles in the U.S. Play Tug-of-War Over the Pacific Islands

Visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and Fiji's prime minister Frank Bainimarama attend a joint press conference in Fiji's capital of Suva on May 30, 2022.

China, the U.S., and Australia will need to adapt their traditional engagement with the island nations to secure influence in the strategic maritime region.

The Pacific Islands Emerge as the Next Theater for Great Power Competition 

As U.S. focus turns away from the Pacific islands, other powers are starting to pay attention.

Tracking U.S. Naval Power

Countries like the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau enjoy a close treaty relationship with the United States, but the strategically located states are now on China's radar too.

China Sets a Course for the U.S.'s Pacific Domain

Columns

On the Road

The Geopolitics of the Cook Islands

Environmental Issues

Globalization

In the remote Pacific islands, the world's crises are dulled by distance. But the plight of the Cook Islands -- a grouping of 15 islands at the heart of the South Pacific is a tiny segment of a sweeping arc that sprawls across the Pacific from the Marianas to Polynesia -- is dire. In spite of the fantasies of travelers over the centuries, these islands are not pristine utopias.

A Place Where Geopolitics Fades

Media

Graphics

Paris Agreement Emphasizes Shift Away From Oil

The pace of the transition will be decided by how quickly new technologies reach the developing world.

Delegates attend a plenary session at the U.N. climate change summit in Paris on Dec. 9.

The agreement signed Dec. 12 in Paris is just a small part of a broader energy transition driven by technological change.

Climate Agreement Will Only Hasten Transition Beyond Oil

_Energy

SITUATION REPORTS

Australia, Pacific Islands: Summit Produces Regional Policing Agreement

France: Paris Strengthens Defense Cooperation With Pacific Island Countries

Pacific Islands: Flurry of Visits Highlights Region's Growing Strategic Importance

Australia: Naval Vessels Gifted to Pacific Islands Have Significant Faults

Tonga: Cable Failure Reveals Increasing Competition Between World Powers in Pacific

Tonga: Prime Minister Rescinds Call to Unite Against Chinese Debt

France: Delegates Approve Paris Climate Change Deal

China: Funding And Apprenticeships Bestowed On APEC

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