United Nations
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Partnerships
Japan-Philippines partnership deepens with police equipment grant
Maria T. Reyes Japan enhanced its strategic partnership with the Philippines in late November 2024 with an equipment grant to the Philippine National Police (PNP) for countering drug and human trafficking in the Indo-Pacific. The grant “cements our shared commitment and deeper understanding about our role as peacekeepers and agents of truth and justice,” according to PNP Forensic Group Director…
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Conflicts - Tensions
North Korean troop deployment to Russia violates U.N. resolutions
FORUM Staff The European Union imposed new sanctions on two top North Korean defense officials in mid-December 2024 for their roles in deploying troops to aid Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine. The EU targeted North Korean Defense Minister Ro Kwang Chol for his direct involvement in the military cooperation between the two regimes, including sending an estimated 11,000 troops to…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
G7 defense chiefs pledge commitment to Free and Open Indo-Pacific
FORUM Staff Defense ministers from the Group of Seven leading industrialized nations said they seek constructive and stable relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC), while stating that Beijing has no legal basis for its expansive maritime claims in the South China Sea. The ministers said they are “strongly opposed to China’s repeated obstruction of freedom of navigation, militarization…
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Free and Open Indo-Pacific/FOIP
CCP coercion stands in stark contrast to Coast Guard cooperation by Allies and Partners
FORUM Staff An increasingly aggressive coast guard signals the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) willingness to risk escalation in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, analysts say. Meanwhile, like-minded nations are cooperating to uphold stability in the region. Rather than focusing on traditional law enforcement missions targeting smugglers or providing search and rescue, the CCP has militarized coast guard ships…
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Global Commons
Indo-Pacific Allies, Partners condemn North Korean spy satellite launch attempt
FORUM Staff The rocket explosion that ended North Korea’s latest effort to launch a spy satellite means the authoritarian regime has failed in three of its four attempts to put a military satellite into orbit. After two failed attempts delivered only international embarrassment in 2023, North Korea finally launched a spy satellite late that year, though experts have cast doubt…
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Global Commons
South Korean peacekeepers support infrastructure, agriculture initiatives in South Sudan
Felix Kim From civil engineering projects to dispensing medical supplies and introducing a new variety of rice, South Korean peacekeepers are helping enhance South Sudan’s infrastructure and supporting the young nation’s population. Known as the Hanbit Unit, Seoul’s peacekeepers first deployed to the Central African nation in 2013 to help improve living conditions, boost security and foster development within the…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Australian, New Zealand defense forces supporting Solomon Islands elections
Tom Abke International partners including Australia, New Zealand and the United Nations are providing security, logistical and other assistance to support the Solomon Islands conduct national elections in April 2024. In addition to defense and police personnel, Pacific neighbors are contributing financial assistance to the island nation. Almost 150 of the nearly 1,000 islands, atolls and reefs that comprise the…
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Conflicts - Tensions
Allies, Partners resolute over North Korea WMD sanctions, condemn Russia’s veto
FORUM Staff Russia’s latest attempt to weaken monitoring of United Nations sanctions of North Korea over its illegal nuclear weapons program will have negligible impact, according to security experts. In late March 2024, Moscow vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have extended the mandate for a panel of experts (POE) to monitor the sanctions. The veto has instead…
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Climate
U.N. climate agreement addresses fossil fuels for first time as Blue Pacific nations, U.S. push for more ambitious goals
FORUM Staff United Nations climate talks in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in December 2023 closed with an agreement by nearly 200 nations to “transition away” from fossil fuels. It marked the first time a U.N. climate compact has called for governments to burn less coal, oil and natural gas, a step some observers called historic. Blue Pacific nations on…
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Illicit Activity
France deploys surveillance aircraft to enforce U.N. sanctions, deter illicit North Korean actions
FORUM Staff France demonstrates its commitment to security and stability in the Info-Pacific by annually deploying assets to uphold and enforce United Nations Security Council resolutions to deter North Korean nuclear proliferation. In October 2023, the French Polynesian Armed Forces’ Falcon Guardian, a maritime surveillance aircraft based in Tahiti, arrived in Japan to support the multinational Enforcement Coordination Cell (ECC).…
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