Australia

China

Fiji

New Zealand

Papua New Guinea

Tonga

France

Military & Security

Politics

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

Samoa

Federated States of Micronesia

Kiribati

Marshall Islands

Nauru

Tuvalu

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

The United States is backing the construction of the Central Pacific Cable, a planned undersea internet cable covering thousands of miles that will link U.S. territories American Samoa and Guam before extending to 10 Pacific Island countries and territories, Reuters reported on Sept. 27.

U.S., Pacific Islands: Washington Backs New Undersea Cable Network in Pacific

Philippines

Taiwan

Thailand

Cyber

Earth Longzhi, a subgroup of Chinese state-sponsored hacking group APT41, has reemerged after months of dormancy, according to a May 2 report by Japanese multinational cybersecurity firm Trend Micro.

China: New Report Highlights Return of Hacking Group Earth Longzhi

The new Fijian government led by Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka suspended a security deal with China that allowed Chinese police to train Fijian police, Reuters reported Jan. 26.

Fiji: New Government Scraps Security Deal With China

U.S.-China Relations

Outgoing Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama asked the military to back his attempts to stay in power following the country's Dec. 14 general election, but the military has not done so, Reuters reported Dec. 22.

Fiji: Military Rejects Outgoing Prime Minister's Attempts to Stay in Power

Economics

Australia and Fiji signed a status of forces agreement, which will enable each country to station and operate military forces in the other, Reuters reported Oct. 20.

Australia: Canberra Steps Up Its Regional Engagement

Fiji's permanent representative to the United Nations, Peter Thomson, was elected on June 13 as the next president of the U.N. General Assembly, Reuters reported. 

U.N.: Fijian Representative Elected President Of U.N. General Assembly

Government officials declared a state of natural disaster in Fiji after a cyclone tore through the archipelago on Feb. 20, destroying villages and leaving five dead, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said Feb. 21, the New York Times reported.

Fiji: State of Natural Disaster Declared After Cyclone Winston

Terrorism and Security

Columns

On Geopolitics

Indonesia

Japan

North Korea

Singapore

South Korea

Vietnam

United Kingdom

India

A 3D rendering of Southeast Asia from space at night with city lights showing Southeast Asian cities in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

In the Asia-Pacific, countries are increasingly pursuing complex networks of political, economic and defense ties as part of a burgeoning "multi-alignment" strategy that seeks to avoid U.S.-China strategic competition.

Examining 'Multi-Alignment' in the Asia-Pacific

Assessments

Palau

Solomon Islands

Vanuatu

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.

Security

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

China in Transition

Asia-Pacific: Among Great Powers

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 

Guidance

Costa Rica

Ukraine

Belarus

Russia

Iran

United Arab Emirates

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) speaks with his Belarusian counterpart, Viktor Khrenin, on Feb. 3, 2022, in Minsk, Belarus. NATO expects 30,000 Russian troops to arrive in Belarus by the Feb. 10 start of the second phase of the "Allied Resolve" exercise, the most Russian troops present in the country since the Cold War era.

Iran's Arc of Influence

The Ukraine Conflict

The Fight for Russia’s Borderlands

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

The Weekly Rundown: Blinken Visits Australia for a Quad Meeting, Russia and Belarus Begin Joint Exercises

The extremely secluded resort island of Wakaya, Fiji. 

The New Silk Road

As Beijing increases its ties in the Pacific subregion of Melanesia, Australia is forced to reckon with a more permanent Chinese presence on its doorstep. 

China Encroaches on Australia's Backyard

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

Germany

Many signatories of the Paris Agreement are failing to fulfill their commitments toward combating the global temperature rise. 

_Energy

Environmental Issues

Energy

There is unlikely to be a consensus in the coming years on how to best mitigate the effects of climate change, which likely means that humanity will be forced to adapt to a hotter Earth in the coming decades.

A Gloomy Forecast for Climate Change

On the Road

Timor-Leste

Malaysia

The Geopolitics of the Cook Islands

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

Sub-Saharan Africa

South Sudan

Angola

Benin

Botswana

Burkina Faso

Burundi

Cameroon

Cabo Verde

Central African Republic

Chad

Comoros

Cote d'Ivoire

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Djibouti

Equatorial Guinea

Eritrea

Ethiopia

Gabon

Gambia

Ghana

Guinea

Guinea Bissau

Kenya

Lesotho

Liberia

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Mauritania

Mauritius

Mozambique

Namibia

Niger

Nigeria

Republic of the Congo

Rwanda

Sao Tome and Principe

Senegal

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Somalia

South Africa

Sudan

Eswatini

Tanzania

Togo

Uganda

Zambia

Zimbabwe

Americas

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Barbados

Belize

Bolivia

Brazil

Canada

Chile

Colombia

Cuba

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Ecuador

El Salvador

Grenada

Guatemala

Guyana

Haiti

Honduras

Mexico

Nicaragua

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Suriname

Bahamas

Trinidad and Tobago

Uruguay

Venezuela

Greenland

Jamaica

Asia-Pacific

Brunei Darussalam

Cambodia

Laos

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

Europe

Greece

Latvia

This is an internal Stratfor document listing significant meetings and events for the next week.

Geopolitical Calendar: Week of Dec. 29, 2014

SITUATION REPORTS

France: Paris Strengthens Defense Cooperation With Pacific Island Countries

U.S., Pacific Islands: Washington Backs New Undersea Cable Network in Pacific

China: New Report Highlights Return of Hacking Group Earth Longzhi

Fiji: New Government Scraps Security Deal With China

Fiji: Military Rejects Outgoing Prime Minister's Attempts to Stay in Power

Australia: Canberra Steps Up Its Regional Engagement

U.N.: Fijian Representative Elected President Of U.N. General Assembly

Fiji: State of Natural Disaster Declared After Cyclone Winston

Forecasts

ANALYSES

SECTIONS

Explore

Subscribe

Help & Support