Why is Biden Hosting the First U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit Now?

Why is Biden Hosting the First U.S.-Pacific Islands Summit Now?

Monday, September 26, 2022

By: Brian Harding;  Camilla Pohle

President Joe Biden will host leaders of Pacific Island countries for a summit at the White House from September 28-29, the latest U.S. effort to strengthen ties with a region that is increasingly the focus of competition between China and the United States and its partners. While China is a major force behind the United States’ effort to reengage with the Pacific Islands, strategic competition has also reawakened Washington to its fundamental interests in the region, which have existed for many decades, and long predate the current era of U.S.-China rivalry.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Pro-Taiwan Pacific Island Leaders Show Cracks in China’s Appeal

Pro-Taiwan Pacific Island Leaders Show Cracks in China’s Appeal

Thursday, May 18, 2023

By: Camilla Pohle;  Jennifer Staats, Ph.D.

Most Pacific Island countries have formal diplomatic relations with Beijing. But at both the local and national level, some leaders are raising concerns about Chinese bribery, violations of sovereignty, clandestine intelligence operations and political interference in their countries, as well as the possibility that China may invade Taiwan. As Beijing forces its agenda on Pacific Island countries and competes with the United States for influence in the region, Washington should lead by example and build partnerships with the Pacific Islands that emphasize consulting with them as equals and focusing on areas of common interest, like climate change.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

Pacific Islands Forum: Leaders Want to Focus on Climate Change, Not Geopolitics

Pacific Islands Forum: Leaders Want to Focus on Climate Change, Not Geopolitics

Thursday, July 7, 2022

By: Brian Harding;  Camilla Pohle

The annual Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Leaders Meeting will convene next week in Suva, Fiji, against the backdrop of increasing geopolitical competition in the region. But as the United States and its partners grow increasingly wary of China’s strategic interests in the Pacific Islands, leaders of PIF member states seek to shift regional attention to their greatest security concern: climate change.

Type: Analysis

EnvironmentGlobal Policy

U.S. Strengthens Ties with Key Pacific Island Partners

U.S. Strengthens Ties with Key Pacific Island Partners

Thursday, June 1, 2023

By: Gordon Peake, Ph.D.;  Camilla Pohle

The United States notched multiple diplomatic wins in the Pacific Islands region last week, making further progress in Washington’s efforts to step up engagement in this oft-neglected part of the world. In a move closely watched by Pacific nations, the United States signed deals to renew its economic assistance to Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia for the next 20 years. Meanwhile, although President Biden had to cancel his planned visit to Papua New Guinea, Secretary of State Antony Blinken inked a defense cooperation deal with the island nation in the president’s stead. While the region has become another arena for U.S.-China competition, Washington has long-standing relationships and interests there that go well beyond its rivalry with Beijing.

Type: Analysis

Global Policy

China’s Influence on the Freely Associated States of the Northern Pacific

China’s Influence on the Freely Associated States of the Northern Pacific

Tuesday, September 20, 2022

By: USIP China-Freely Associated States Senior Study Group

Around the world, Beijing is investing heavily in diplomatic, security, cultural, and economic ties in a bid to increase its global influence, strengthen its ability to protect and advance its national interests, attract support in multilateral fora and international institutions, and fracture the global consensus on key issues it views as unfavorable to its geopolitical ambitions. The Pacific Islands region—defined as the vast stretch of Pacific Ocean between Asian littoral waters in the west, Guam in the north and Hawaii in the northeast, and Australia and New Zealand in the south and southwest—has been no exception.

Type: Report

Global Policy