Pacific Islands Society @ SOAS

New Young Pacific Artists Program Launched by Pacific Islands Society

eddiewalsh:

The Pacific Islands Society recognizes that the rich cultural tapestry of the Pacific Islands region is producing talented young Pacific artists. Unfortunately, a lack of awareness for their work is preventing them from realizing their full potential on the world stage.

The Pacific Islands Society is therefore calling on young artists to submit portfolios of their work. Successful applicants will then have selected works from their portfolio featured on the Pacific Islands Society blog alongside a brief profile of the artist and contact information for how the artist can be reached.

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Pacific Islands Society Announces New Pacific Security Scholars Program

eddiewalsh:

The Pacific Islands Society has launched a new Pacific Security Scholars Program. The program provides post-graduate and research degree students from Pacific Island Countries will an opportunity to make their voice heard on the important issue of “International Security and the Pacific Islands.”

Selected scholars will be asked to contribute to the ongoing debate of international security by producing regular articles and opinion pieces on directed issues for publication on the Pacific Islands Society’s blog. This will provide these scholars with the opportunity to have their perspective presented alongside the region’s senior diplomatic staff, who recently shared their own opinions on the topic.

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FAS Call for Applications: Pacific Young Leaders on Disarmament Project

eddiewalsh:

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) was established in 1979 as the international community’s single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum. The CD and its predecessors have negotiated a number of major multilateral arms control and disarmament agreements, including the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. However, in recent years, the CD has been unable to make progress against its own schedule as a great debate over what to prioritize – counter-proliferation or disarmament – has divided its 65 members. This has led to new efforts to revitalize the CD so that it can move forward with its disarmament agenda.

Unfortunately, the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) are not CD members and thus not directly represented within these debates. Nevertheless, the PICs retain important national security interests in the outcome of the CD proceedings. Human security in the Pacific Islands is clearly tied to the mitigation of global high-end security threats, including those posed by emerging Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Robotics, and Information and Communications (NBRIC) technologies and more traditional Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) weapons. For this reason, it is important for PICs to possess the diplomatic capacity required to assess whether developments within the CD advance or impede their national security interests and intervene in international discourse on counter-proliferation and disarmament issues when necessary.

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‘US and China Represent Two Sides of the Same Coin to Pacific Islanders’ - Huffington Post Features Recap of Fiji High Commissioner Remarks at SOAS on Asia-Pacific Security

In a speech given last Tuesday to the Pacific Islands Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies(SOAS), the Fiji High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr. Solo Mara, argued that the Pacific Islands region has a ‘voice that is beginning to be recognized on the global stage’ as it emerges as a possible “geo-strategic political pitch for the super-powers, particularly China and the United States.” On this political pitch, the High Commissioner maintained that “the (United States) and China to Pacific Islanders represent two sides of the same coin.” Yet, his prepared remarks expressed far more criticism of western engagement in the region than that of China …

READ FULL STORY HERE: “Fiji High Commissioner - China Stepping in When US and UK Withdrew”

New Zealand High Commissioner to UK Speaks at SOAS

Acting New Zealand High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Mr. Rob Taylor, delivers sweeping overview of US-NZ strategic relations. A full transcript of his speech can be found here.

SOAS Research Student Publishes Recap of US-NZ Strategic Partnership Event

The president of the Pacific Islands Society at SOAS, Eddie Walsh, published a recap of the event on Huffington Post this afternoon. The article, entitled “New Zealand High Commissioner: Shared Values Driving Ever Stronger US-NZ Partnership,” can be found here.

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Pacific Islands Society at SOAS Launches New Website

We are pleased to announce that the Pacific Islands Society at SOAS will be launching its new website on February, 11, 2013. This coincides with the first event in the spring ambassador series. We encourage everyone at the University of London constituent colleges (SOAS, LSE, King’s, etc.) to check it out and to join us for an upcoming event.

Official Statement of SOAS Pacific Islands Society on Earthquake Tsunami in Soloman Islands

We, the Pacific Islands Society at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), extend our sincere condolences to the victims of todays’ Pacific tsunami. We mourn with the families of those who lost their lives and property in Soloman Islands and hope very much that the extent of the damage is far less than currently feared. In light of this event, we call on the students and faculty of SOAS, as well as the broader University of London community, to consider supporting charities, like the Red Cross, who will be part of the disaster response, relief, and recovery in the Pacific Islands.

Read more about the tsunami here: Earthquake tsunami kills at least six in the Soloman Islands