Whose ‘Freedom of Navigation’? Australia, China, the United States, and the Making of Order in the ‘Indo-Pacific’

Recently, the European Union presented its strategy for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, which is not a coherent world region but a concept to respond to geopolitical and geo-economic dynamics linked to China’s rise. This GIGA Focus analyses the interests and concerns of the small powers in the Pacific.

The Pacific Islands Forum is facing its biggest crisis since its founding 50 years ago. Nearly one-third of its members are to leave the organization in 2022 because their candidate for secretary general was not elected in early 2021. Reforms may help to avert the "Micronexit", but challenges still abound for the Pacific’s premier regional body.