France, the Blue Pacific, and the Indo-Pacific

Wednesday, March 6, 2024
2:30-3:30 pm HST
258 Moore Hall

Please join us on Wednesday, March 6, 2024 from 2:30-3:30 pm in 258 Moore Hall to hear from Nic Maclellan on “France, the Blue Pacific, and the Indo-Pacific.” Under President Emmanuel Macron, France has promoted its claim to be an Indo-Pacific power, working to expand security relations in Asia and the Pacific Islands. But France—like other Western powers—faces contradictions between its Indo-Pacific Strategy and its stated commitment to the Blue Pacific agenda promoted by members of the Pacific Islands Forum. Drawing on interviews with Kanak and Māʻohi leaders, the seminar will discuss Franceʻs geopolitical interests in the region, and the contrasting priorities of islanders in the francophone Pacific. 

Nic Maclellan is a correspondent for Islands Business, a news, current affairs and business magazine in Fiji. He had published widely on French policy in the Pacific islands and is co-author of La France dans le Pacifique— de Bougainville a Moruroa and After Moruroa— France in the South Pacific.

This talk is supported by the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Center for Pacific Islands Studies, the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs, and the Pacific Islands Development Program.