Thursday, April 24, 2025
3:00–4:00 PM HST | 9:00–10:00 PM EDT
Hybrid Event: 258 Moore Hall and Online
Watch the Video
On Thursday, April 24, 2025, CIPA welcomed Sione Tekiteki (Senior Lecturer, School of Law, Auckland University of Technology & former Director of Governance and Engagement, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat) for a talk on “The Blue Pacific Continent: Striving for ‘Real’ Influence in the Indo-Pacific”. The Blue Pacific narrative and the subsequent 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent articulate the region’s collective aspirations and priorities from a Pacific centric perspective. As a region that has been, and remains, dominated by foreign powers and external influence, this strategic frame asserts that Pacific nations as a political bloc will not wither under the weight of the unprecedented geopolitical interest and geostrategic competition playing out in the region. Instead, it seeks to place its own regional priorities at the forefront of the global agenda.
Tekiteki argued that despite this assertion, the reality is that the fate of the Blue Pacific Continent depends on the political will and the level of ambition of Pacific nations to work together. It is a region that is highly vulnerable. While climate change is widely acknowledged, the Pacific region’s vulnerabilities are also deeply rooted in its colonial history, institutions, and dependencies. In addition, the international rules-based order and its institutions are fast eroding, and the Blue Pacific Continent framing alone will not enable Pacific nations to achieve their 2050 aspirations. The Blue Pacific Continent must assert its will through tangible rules, and the only way to do that is for Pacific Leaders to place their trust in each other and to uphold collective responsibility – finding inspiration from their shared Pacific values.
More broadly, Tekiteki argued that Pacific nations must strengthen their association with “like-valued” nations—particularly in the Indo-Pacific—aspiring to protect their interests in a world that is fast becoming more uncertain, more complex, and more polarising.
This event was followed by a small reception in the Tokioka Room (319 Moore Hall) sponsored by the UHM Center for Pacific Islands Studies.
Sione Tekiteki is a lawyer and Pacific issues expert with over 20 years’ practice experience in the Pacific. He most recently served as the Director Governance and Engagement with the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Secretariat for 9 years, where he was responsible for security, governance, strategic engagement, international law and nuclear related matters. He had direct oversight of the PIF Leaders’ annual meeting and was instrumental in driving the Blue Pacific global agenda during a period of unprecedented attention, including Leaders’ summit with the US, India, Korea, Japan, France, China, and with the UN Secretary General. Tekiteki is currently a Senior Lecturer at the School of Law, Auckland University of Technology, where he lectures in the field of public international law, Pacific governance and regionalism, and multilateralism. His research interests include Pacific international law making in a changing world order, the politics of climate change from a small island states perspective, and political (in)stability.
This event was hosted by the Center for Indo-Pacific Affairs with generous support from the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.