Australia, Jan. 22 -- By Joanne Wallis
Two narratives dominated geopolitical discussions of the Pacific islands in 2018 - that of the Blue Pacific and the Indo-Pacific.
The former was first articulated at the 2017 Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. It seeks to strengthen the assertion of Pacific island states' autonomy and agency so that they can better harness the region's strategic value on their own terms and chart their own development paths.
The latter is used by Australia, the United States, Japan and Indonesia to link the Pacific and Indian Oceans as their region of strategic interest. Pacific island states are wary that this approach poses the 'risk of privileging Indo over the "Pacific"' and of characterising Pacific island ...