BY NED GAGAHE
Solomon Islands academic and Solomon Islands National University (SINU) Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Transform Aqorau has cautioned that the Pacific’s vision of becoming an “Ocean of Peace” could be undermined if growing military and security partnerships begin to overshadow the region’s own priorities.
In an article posted on his Facebook page yesterday, Professor Aqorau questioned whether the Pacific could genuinely pursue peace while simultaneously becoming the focus of expanding bilateral and plurilateral security agreements driven by increasing geopolitical competition.
He stressed that the issue was not about criticising the sovereign decisions of individual Pacific Island countries to enter security arrangements but whether the region’s collective vision remained coherent as external powers increasingly viewed the Pacific through strategic and military lens.
“The Pacific seeks peace, not because it is strategically convenient, but because peace is essential for sustainable development and for the survival of our peoples,” Professor Aqorau wrote.
He argued that Pacific leaders had already defined what security means through landmark regional frameworks, including the 2018 Boe Declaration on Regional Security, the 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent and the emerging Ocean of Peace Declaration.
According to Professor Aqorau, these regional commitments place climate change, human security, sustainable development and regional cooperation ahead of military competition.
He said while external powers often viewed the Pacific through concerns over strategic geography, maritime access, undersea cables and geopolitical rivalry, Pacific communities faced very different security challenges.
“The greatest insecurity experienced by many Pacific Islanders is not the prospect of military confrontation. It is the gradual erosion of coastlines, rising sea levels, stronger cyclones, food insecurity and the existential threat posed by climate change,” he said.
Professor Aqorau also argued that development should be recognised as a key pillar of security, saying investments in education, healthcare, renewable energy, infrastructure, food security and effective governance strengthen national resilience more than military partnerships alone.
He urges Pacific Island countries to safeguard their strategic autonomy, saying the Blue Pacific should never be viewed merely as an arena for competition between global powers.
“The future of the Blue Pacific should not be determined by the strategic anxieties of others. It should be shaped by the hopes, priorities and agency of the Pacific peoples themselves,” he said.
Professor Aqorau concluded that the Ocean of Peace should remain more than a declaration, describing it as the defining principle that should guide Pacific regionalism in the twenty-first century.
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