A major new regional study into the shifting power dynamics of the Pacific, Shores of Security: Exploring Geopolitics in the Oceania Region, was launched in Suva on Thursday evening, throwing fresh light on how island states are navigating rising strategic competition. Co-edited by Shaista Shameem and Monojit Das, the publication was officially unveiled by Jioji Kotobalavu at the University of Fiji’s 1 City Central campus as part of the institution’s 21st anniversary events.
Kotobalavu opened the launch by acknowledging the traditional landowners of Vuda and then turned to the book’s core question: why states behave the way they do when managing relationships with external partners. Drawing on the volume’s framework, he argued that Oceania’s geopolitical landscape can be usefully understood through three broad groupings: Pacific Island countries themselves (with Australia and New Zealand at the centre as Forum core members); long-standing Western powers such as the United States, France and the United Kingdom; and newer external partners including China, India and Japan that are reshaping strategic calculations across the region.
To illustrate the competing pulls on island capitals, Kotobalavu pointed to Papua New Guinea’s “dual-track” strategy: Canberra and Washington remain central to Port Moresby’s defence ties, even as economic cooperation with China — particularly in infrastructure and development — expands. He said Papua New Guinea’s approach typifies a wider regional pattern of maintaining traditional security partnerships while pursuing new economic opportunities, a balancing act that carries risks and prospects for the Pacific’s smaller states.
Fiji’s positioning was a focal point at the launch. Kotobalavu noted that longstanding relationships with Australia and New Zealand continue to underpin trade, education, health and security cooperation, while defence ties with the United States have strengthened and China remains a vital economic partner dating back decades. Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, speaking at the event, reinforced this stance by emphasising his vision of the Pacific as a “zone of peace” grounded in dialogue and mutual respect — language that echoes recent regional efforts to insulate Pacific affairs from great-power rivalry.
The new book also highlights how geopolitical contests are inseparable from existential challenges for the smallest states. Kotobalavu singled out Tuvalu as an example where rising sea levels make international partnerships not merely strategic but a matter of survival, and where security arrangements such as the Falepili Union treaty with Australia reflect both humanitarian and geostrategic imperatives.
Concluding his remarks, Kotobalavu urged “strategic pragmatism” as the practical approach for Pacific governments, defining it as “being smart and sensible in dealing with challenges.” He outlined guiding principles to support that framework — broad inclusion of states that wish to contribute to Pacific development, respect for sovereignty regardless of size, and conducting relationships in good faith underpinned by mutual trust — and argued these tenets could help balance development needs with the imperative to safeguard regional peace.
The launch places Shores of Security squarely in the centre of an ongoing regional conversation about how Pacific countries can assert agency amid intensifying US–China competition. Coming after recent declarations by leaders seeking to frame the Pacific as an “Ocean of Peace,” the book’s publication and Suva launch add a fresh, scholarly voice to debates policymakers are actively shaping across capitals from Honiara to Wellington and beyond.
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