The South Pacific: A New Arena for Strategic Competition among the Major Powers

Abstract

The South Pacific region is in the international spotlight once more as resident and extra-regional powers jockey for influence and allegiance as part of a broader strategic competition in the Indo-Pacific. This article reveals the geostrategic, geopolitical and geoeconomic issues at stake and provides a capsule analysis of the approach taken by all the key competitors. It also reveals the responses of the Pacific Island countries themselves to the strategic rivalry unfolding on their doorstep.