Special Issue: Foreign Policy Signaling in the Indo-Pacific: Responses to the US-China Rivalry in a Multipolar World

This article examines Australia’s ‘Pacific Step-up’, a signature foreign policy initiative of the Scott Morrison government (2018‒2022), from a signalling perspective. It also explains why Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China in 2022 despite Australia’s wooing of Pacific Island countries.

With contributions from GIGA researchers and our network of partners working in and on the Indo-Pacific, this special edited by Dr. Johannes Plagemann and Dr. Raphaëlle Khan (City College of New York) explores the often ambiguous foreign policy signals in this geopolitically contested world region.

The AUKUS security pact between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom aims at providing greater security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. But can it really work? Explained is the exact nature of this pact and in highlighting the risks and challenges for all parties involved.

Organiser: German Institute for Global and Area Studies Prof. Dr. Patrick Köllner (Organiser), Dr. Johannes Plagemann (Moderator), Ass. Prof. Dr. Raphaëlle Khan (Moderator)

Patrick Köllner organised the 27th webinar of the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific, featuring Brian C. Chao (Naval War College, US) and Hyun-Binn Cho (College of New Jersey) who address the topic of 'U.S. Freedom-of-Navigation Operations as Signals in the South China Sea'.

This edited volume is a product of the Franco-German Observatory of the Indo-Pacific. Fourteen scholars based in France, Germany, and the Netherlands examine different conceptions of order in the Indo-Pacific and analyse the agency of small and middle powers in that strategic space.

This article examines Australia’s ‘Pacific Step-up’, a signature foreign policy initiative of the Scott Morrison government (2018‒2022), from a signalling perspective. It also explains why Solomon Islands signed a security agreement with China in 2022 despite Australia’s wooing of Pacific Island countries.

With contributions from GIGA researchers and our network of partners working in and on the Indo-Pacific, this special edited by Dr. Johannes Plagemann and Dr. Raphaëlle Khan (City College of New York) explores the often ambiguous foreign policy signals in this geopolitically contested world region.

The AUKUS security pact between Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom aims at providing greater security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. But can it really work? Explained is the exact nature of this pact and in highlighting the risks and challenges for all parties involved.