The Pacific Islands Forum wrapped up its annual leaders meeting last week with some significant agreements, including the launch of the region’s own climate financing facility, the endorsement of the Ocean of Peace declaration and policies on partnerships and broader aspirations for “deeper integration”.

But integration remains a contested term. It implies unity but is shaped by the often uneven and unequal ways in which the region is tied together.

An EU-style integration has never taken root in the Pacific, primarily because forum members are not equals. Some are newly independent, while others, such as New Caledonia and French Polynesia, remain colonised.

Australia and New Zealand sit apart as larger, wealthier powers whose influence inevitably shapes the terms of integration. A closer look into the recent forum’s resolutions illustrates this fragile balance.

Like many negotiated texts, the Ocean of Peace declaration is filled with ambiguities that allow for diverging interpretations and opportunities for it to be co-opted.

For larger forum powers, peace cannot be separated from deterrence. Since the China-Solomon Islands pact in 2022 bilateral security deals have proliferated, now including reports of a landmark PNG-Australia defence treaty promising “total integration”.

Security is therefore integrating bilaterally, with only thin reinforcement at the regional level.

For many Pacific nations, peace looks different. It means little without confronting climate change, nuclear harms and human security. For them, integration takes shape through........

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