The Regional Perspectives Project was about listening to, and learning from, Pacific people on a range of topics that reflect Pacific priorities, including relationships with other countries. This report presents a summary of the key findings from Phase 2 of the research undertaken in Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

This paper makes initial policy proposals concerning the following Pacific maritime security issues: responding to geopolitical competition; legal and regulatory environment; fisheries cooperation; transnational crime; and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief. It also makes initial policy proposals for how partner countries can enhance their maritime security assistance and cooperation in the Pacific Islands region.

The ocean is critical to the lives and livelihoods of Pacific people, and Pacific Island countries manage more than 10% of the earth’s oceans. This set of 13 papers examines what maritime security means in the Pacific Islands region, what maritime security mechanisms exist and what forms of assistance partners are providing in the region.

The authors of this report argue that Australia, New Zealand and the United States should help create an ASEAN-style forum for Pacific Island nations to discuss security and manage geopolitical challenges.

In this policy paper, members of the University of Adelaide Security in the Pacific Islands team present the component parts of the webs of statecraft that partner states are weaving in the Pacific Islands region.