Solomon Islands' Long Summer of Discontent

Regional and national security challenges are mounting in the Pacific Islands and
demanding new approaches to respond to them. Currently, COVID-19, climate
change and geopolitics are adding to pre-existing concerns related to human,
environmental and traditional security. This special issue considers how Pacific
Islanders are navigating through these pressures and charting new ways to secure their
resources, food, health and way of life. The ways in which the Pacific manages these
new and future security currents will affect development trajectories and the
relationships critical to finding a ‘Pacific Way’ to safeguard culture, place and agency.
Introduction
This special issue of the Development Bulletin draws on the Boe Declaration
on Regional Security (page viii), and its expanded concept of security to frame our
analyses and provide direction for improving long-term resilience. We examine
fresh perspectives on security and the ways in which many security issues in the
Pacific are interconnected and need to be addressed through collaborations across
sectors and society – a ‘whole of nation’ and ‘whole of region’ approach. The
importance of connectivity, inclusion and culture provides the foundation for most
of the papers in this journal. While the Boe Declaration speaks of different types of
security, it is acknowledged that they all overlap and interact, requiring a more
systemic approach that takes us out of our harbours and onto uncharted waters.
This journal also marks the first year of ANU’s Australia Pacific Security
College which has supported this publication. The College is committed to creating
platforms for collaboration and knowledge exchange to support a Pacific approach
to the region’s security. We hope this Special Edition with its collection of authors
from the Pacific and those with long-term associations makes a significant
contribution.