The Competition for Influence in Oceania
Abstract
In the last two decades, China has undertaken a concerted effort to achieve soft power dominance in geostrategic and periphery countries across Oceania. China is now on pace to bypass the West in the competition for strategic influence among the nations of Oceania. While the United States and its allies tend to work aboveboard in building relationships and strengthening alliances, Chinas less-reputable tactics, though highly criticized, are steadily drawing in new partners. There is international concern that as Chinas regional influence grows it will someday convert its influence into diplomatic and economic and potentially military dominance that will serve to challenge and, perhaps, supplant the current international order. Through the lens of a single case study of the Solomon Islands, this research sought to demonstrate which factors are the most important in determining the outcome of the competition for influence in Oceania. This research examined the factors that contributed to the Solomon Islands recent diplomatic and policy shifts in favor of China. This research suggests that Chinas use of coercive diplomacy and economic-based leverage were the most consequential factors and that the most effective way for the United States to compete with Chinas growing influence in the Solomon Islands, and Oceania more broadly, will be to do so with and through its like-minded regional partners and allies in a manner that is as multilateral, stable, and reliable as possible.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2023
- Accession Number
- AD1213690
Entities
People
- Eric E. Vanhorn
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School