Pacific Security Cooperation Workshop at ANU

Pacific Security Cooperation Workshop

Greetings from the Pacific Security Cooperation Workshop hosted at the Australian National University in Canberra. On the agenda are response to COVID-19 and disasters, and, of course, China. This is core business for the university, which was set up, in part, to advance Australia's interests in the region. While the Pacific has not been at the forefront of strategic thinking, ANU, and other institutions, have been quietly studying it for decades. There is a report from last years workshop.

In opening remarks, Professor Alan Tidwell, Georgetown University, made the point that the US military has difficulty in cooperation with Pacific island states as most don't have a conventional military forces. This, I suggest, is a serious limitation in dealing with security issues in the region. In responding to grey zone operations, conventional military force may be counterproductive.