The Pacific Ocean of Peace, an idea whose time has not come

Pacific leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum 2025

“Ocean of Peace”—an expression being bandied about by a handful of Pacific Island leaders—brings to mind the title of an early 1960s musical, “Stop the World, I Want to Get Off.” The main idea behind “Ocean of Peace” is that the Pacific region can opt out of so-called “great power rivalry” and avoid much of the unpleasantness that afflicts the rest of the globe. Some commentators call for a regional security agreement to keep order.

Good luck with that.

Fijian Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka apparently coined “Ocean of Peace” in 2023, and Pacific Island leaders then adopted it at their annual Pacific Island Forum (PIF) meeting in 2025 in Solomon Islands.

However, the phrase is more something you’d see on a car bumper sticker. How it translates into a widely accepted security framework either locally or globally is unclear.

The Pacific Ocean is a big place with very different peoples and nations, each with sovereign interests. The region has never been exceptionally peaceful—including among Pacific islanders. Just ask the Fijians about the Tongans.

More recently, there was an inability to reach even diplomatic agreement on a Pacific Island Forum (PIF) statement condemning a Chinese missile test in the region.

Read more HERE.