Why are Great and Middle Powers Interested in South Pacific Island Countries?

With a combined approach, the paper reveals that the present dynamics of the South Pacific Island Countries (SPICs) region may become part of a new round of geostrategic transformation. The emerging dynamic is predominantly being driven by the interaction between outside and regional great and middle powers. It is thus external to the SPICs’ own willingness and capacity; is beyond any individual country’s strategy, neither global ones, such as the US-led Indo-Pacific Strategy, or China’s Belt Road Initiative, nor the regional ones such as Australia’s ‘Step-Up’ or New Zealand’s ‘Reset’.