Oceania
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Departments
Strategy of Denial
Dongkeun Lee/Republic of Korea Navy In the Indo-Pacific, navies play a major role in shaping a balance of power that generates deterrent effects. The roles and strategies of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) are crucial to this deterrence. When we think about power in international relations, it’s easy to imagine armies clashing on…
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Features
Charting a Course
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard has increased its international engagements throughout the Pacific in recent years. Through initiatives such as the Pacific Area Campaign Plan, the Coast Guard plays a pivotal role in advancing the White House’s Indo-Pacific Strategy and the National Maritime Domain Awareness Plan. Such efforts align with the 2050 Strategy for the Blue…
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Features
Pacific Multi-Domain Training and Experimentation Capability
Dr. Andre J. Stridiron III/U.S. INDO-PACIFIC COMMAND The Pacific Multi-Domain Training and Experimentation Capability (PMTEC) program strives to rapidly enhance and enable joint and coalition interoperability across the Indo-Pacific. Funded and resourced by the United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) under the Pacific Deterrence Initiative (PDI), PMTEC links advanced live, virtual and constructive (LVC) range technologies across the region. Entering its…
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Features
Sharing Environmental Intelligence
FORUM Staff Kiribati’s plans for an improved pier on Kanton Island were at a standstill. Australia had committed to completing the project, but outdated information about the underwater topography surrounding the remote atoll had stymied the delivery of materials for planned upgrades. Crews needed underwater terrain mapping and information about ocean depth before it was safe for mariners to bring…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Illegal Catch
FORUM Staff The Marshall Islands advanced the battle against illegal fishing in June 2024 when the Pacific island nation of 82,000 people officially became a party to the international contract known as the Port State Measures Agreement (PSMA). The treaty, conceived and implemented by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), sets standards for regulating fishing vessels entering foreign…
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Features
Critical Conduits
FORUM Staff Even as the world plunged into war, Direction Island seemed a strange destination for a German landing party in November 1914. Part of the largely uninhabited Cocos atoll midway between Australia and Sri Lanka in the eastern Indian Ocean, the speck of land was 11,000 kilometers from the Imperial German Navy’s main port at Wilhelmshaven on the North…
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Features
Land Power Key for Multidomain Success
FORUM Staff | Photos by AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE DEPARTMENT Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart assumed command of the Australian Army on July 2, 2022, about 35 years after he enlisted as a Soldier. The Chief of Army sat down for an interview with FORUM on the sidelines of the Land Forces Pacific (LANPAC) conference sponsored by the Association of the United States…
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Features
A Multidomain Approach to Defense
Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart/Australian Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Simon Stuart delivered this speech at the Land Forces Pacific conference, hosted by the Association of the United States Army in Honolulu, Hawaii, in mid-May 2024. It has been edited to fit FORUM’s format. To the military professional, history is not merely about commemoration. History — especially military history —…
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Features
A Fijian Land Force Perspective
Brig. Gen. Onisivoro Covunisaqa/Land Force Commander, Republic of Fiji Military Forces Fiji is a small island nation in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. We are surrounded by water. Our livelihoods are closely linked to the sea. Due to Fiji’s isolation, the traditional threats within the conflict space — interstate war and armed clashes, territorial disputes and border tensions — are minimal…
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Features
Island Security
FORUM Staff Papua New Guinea (PNG) celebrates the 50th anniversary of its independence from Australia on September 16, 2025. Buildings will be draped in the national colors of red, black and gold and expect a ceremonial flag-raising; parades; sporting events; and cultural festivals with music, dances and costumes. Rehearsals began in 2023 when the country’s Department of Personnel Management urged…
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