Blog
Gordon Leua Nanau - 13 May 2021
A cultural basis for development in Solomon Islands
Development projects throughout the Pacific must incorporate local norms and customs to be successful, Gordon Leua Nanau and Lincy Pendeverana write. Early interactions between Solomon Islanders and the global economic system, such as through early explorers, labour recruiters, traders, planters, missionaries, and colonial administrators left a negative impression on many locals. As a result, Solomon…
Blog
Tim George - 10 May 2021
Strategies for a safer Pacific: can national security strategies make the region more secure?
National security strategies will make the Pacific safer, provided they are realistic, the product of widespread consultation, embedded in the local culture, and effectively implemented, Tim George writes. The development of national security strategies is now firmly on the Pacific regional agenda. Four countries have completed such strategies – Papua New Guinea (2013), Samoa (2018),…
Blog
Hugh McClure - 6 May 2021
COVID-19 – the Pacific response: 6 May 2021
There are now 51 active cases of COVID-19 in Fiji, following the detection of the Indian-variant of the virus in the country. Fiji has now recorded 121 cases of COVID-19 and two deaths. 55,000 tests have been conducted in the country, with almost 6,000 in the past fortnight alone. Case numbers continue to rise in…
Pacific pivot or pirouette? What Biden’s first 100 days mean for the region
Whilst the Biden administration has signalled its intent to more actively engage the Pacific Islands region, it is yet to be seen if this is just a flash in the pan, Meg Keen writes. When United States President Joe Biden was elected, Pacific Island expectations were high — and so were the stakes. Yet the Pacific Islands…
Blog
Sinclair Dinnen - 28 Apr 2021
Public-private policing partnerships: new thinking in PNG security
In many important areas, private security can be the partner the police need to deliver public safety and security outcomes in Papua New Guinea, Sinclair Dinnen and Grant Walton write Soon after his appointment as Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) Police Minister, Bryan Kramer promised to reform PNG’s police force — the Royal Papua New Guinea…
Blog
Hugh McClure - 22 Apr 2021
COVID-19 – the Pacific response: 22 April
Fiji has recorded its first case of community transmission in 12 months, whilst COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly in Papua New Guinea, Hugh McClure writes. Papua New Guinea (PNG) is hurtling toward 10,000 known COVID-19 cases, with 9,952 cases now confirmed in the country and 91 deaths. Despite the rapid increase in identified cases, health authorities continue to caution that…
