Australia’s New Regional Context Peter Layton
AUSTRALIA’S NEW
REGIONAL CONTEXT
Australia’s New Regional Context
Pacific Island Futures
and Air Power Possibilities
Pacific Island Futures and Air Power Possibilities
In the Australian strategic consciousness the Pacific Islands loom very large. There is
more than two hundred years of history including seminal moments such as capturing
German New Guinea in World War I, fighting the Imperial Japanese Forces in World War II
and the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands in 2003.
Today there are three significant issues driving Australian strategic thinking about the
Pacific Islands: geostrategic competition, climate change and a new Pacific Island
regionalism. Australia has seized the moment to refocus on the region and implement a
new regional strategy, the Pacific Step Up. This plays to the nation’s strengths and is in
harmony with the 2018 Pacific Island Forum’s Boe Declaration on Regional Security.
This forward-looking paper moves from today’s national and regional strategies to 2040
with its possibilities for myriad outcomes and alternative futures. The paper argues that
emerging aerospace technologies, human security constructs and different organisational
concepts could combine to enhance Australia’s Pacific Step Up strategy in the future. Air
power is not usually discussed in terms of human security. However, in the Pacific Island
case reality intrudes and, perhaps surprisingly, air power has much to offer.
Peter Layton
Australias New Regional Context_Cover.indd 1 6/2/20 2:02 pm
