Uncover the complexities of Pacific engagement
Maintaining our very clear focus on the centrality of Pacific perspectives, we monitor geopolitical developments and diplomatic activity in the region. Across dimensions including security and geo-strategic competition, we seek to understand the how Pacific countries position themselves in relation to each other and the rest of the world.
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Research highlights
Defence Diplomacy in the Pacific Tracker
The Pacific Defence Diplomacy Tracker is an output of a research project entitled "Rules of Engagement: Defence Diplomacy in the Pacific islands region" which is led by Associate Professor Tess Newton Cain of the Griffith Asia Institute and Associate Professor Anna Powles of the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University.
The "Rules of Engagement: Defence Diplomacy in the Pacific islands region" research project is supported by the United States Institute of Peace and runs from 2023-2024.
Filling the GAPS: Identifying successes, missed opportunities and prospects for diplomacy
This project aims to identify and amplify the diplomatic opportunities presented by the GAPS Program 2016-18 through the lens of sports diplomacy. Using the GAPS experience as a case study, the research explores actual and potential diplomatic outcomes, generating insights for improved future practice while enhancing the legacy of the Commonwealth Games. The 2-year GAPS program for Oceania athletes and para-sport athletes and coaches provided an important mode of athlete-focused engagement, development, and support in the lead-up to the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
COVID-19 Pacific Aid Tracker
The Griffith Pacific Hub Aid Tracker presents data on what has been donated or pledged to Pacific island countries (grant funding, in-kind donations, debt forgiveness and concessional finance) to support them in dealing
with the impacts of COVID-19. We present this data as part of our ongoing work to document the impacts of the pandemic on the countries of the Pacific islands region. We offer this to other researchers and commentators as a resource to inform ongoing analysis and commentary.
Please note that this database is no longer being updated. Owing to resource constraints, we have not been able to clean the data and there may therefore be gaps, errors, and duplications.
India and the Pacific
From 'Look East' to 'Act East' and via several meetings of the Forum for India Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC), most recently in Port Moresby, engagement is expanding and deepening.
We are pleased to provide a collection of resources including reportage, commentary and analysis of the relationships between Delhi and the capitals of the Pacific.
Queensland and the Pacific
Queensland's ties with the Pacific are many and varied. They span a long history, some of which is coloured by trauma as a result of blackbirding. They include trade and investment, cultural links and people-to-people ties. Queensland has the best international communications with Pacific island countries in the whole of Australia. And we are home to some of the largest Pacific diaspora communities in the country. For all these reasons and more, here at the Pacific Hub we are looking for opportunities to document and research how Queensland's Pacific ties can be further developed.