Pacific Regionalism: Opportunities and Challenges

Abstract

For five decades, Pacific Island countries have used regionalism as a main vehicle to promote development and security. This In Brief discusses some of the opportunities for Pacific regionalism, including geographical, demographic and resource features, previous achievements and shared concerns. It also examines challenges to Pacific regionalism, such as geostrategic competition, the Taiwan issue, the overlapping of regional organisations, over-reliance on regional organisations and the representation of subregional groups.