Oceanic diplomacy and foreign-policy making in Tuvalu: a values-based approach

Abstract

Recently, scholars of the Pacific region have discussed the concept of Oceanic diplomacy. Oceanic diplomacy focuses on diplomatic practices or principles that belong to Pacific cultures and are distinct from but sometimes work in concert with Western diplomatic practices. The goal of exploring Oceanic diplomacy is examining the current value of these practices and principles, whether within a single country, among Pacific nations, or at the global level. Here, I apply Oceanic diplomacy in analysing Tuvalu’s 2020 Foreign Policy: Te Sikulagi (The Horizon). I first examine the main cultural concepts highlighted in Te Sikulagi – falepili (being a good neighbour) and kaitasi (shared ownership) – and how they function within traditional Tuvaluan diplomacy. I next examine how, after the publication of Te Sikulagi, these concepts were earmarked for use in bolstering relations with other Pacific nations as part of Western or ‘conventional’ diplomatic practices (i.e. signing diplomatic relations). Finally, I outline how these concepts are utilised at the global level in Tuvalu’s activism on climate change. To conclude, I discuss not only how Oceanic diplomacy demonstrates the existence of diplomacies outside the Western diplomatic paradigm but also how these culturally distinctive and antecedent diplomacies are increasingly influencing global diplomatic trends.

Keywords:

• Oceanic diplomacy
• Pacific region
• Tuvalu
• foreign-policy making
• 2020 Tuvalu foreign policy: Te Sikulagi

Disclosure statement

The author reports there are no competing interests to declare.

Ethical approval

Ethical approval for interviews in this research was provided by Victoria University of Wellington’s Human Ethics Committee (Approval No. 23599). Informed consent was derived via signed informed consent forms.

Notes

1 Ethical approval for interviews in this research was provided by Victoria University of Wellington’s Human Ethics Committee (Approval No. 23599). Informed consent was derived via signed informed consent forms.

2 The other countries are Vietnam, St. Kitts and Nevis, Gabon, the Bahamas, Kosovo, and St. Lucia.

Additional information

Funding

Part of this work was supported by Victoria University of Wellington under Grants 214491 and 221469.

Notes on contributors

Jess Marinaccio

Jess Marinaccio is Assistant Professor of Asian Pacific studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and was recently employed in Tuvalu’s Foreign Affairs Department. She received her doctorate in Pacific studies from Victoria University of Wellington and researches Pacific understandings of diplomacy. She has published in The Contemporary Pacific.