On May 28, 2026, the Inter-American Dialogue’s Asia & Latin America Program held “Managing Sovereign Waters: Infrastructure, Maritime Security, and Strategic Agency,” the second event in a private roundtable series called “Comparative Policymaking in a Shifting Global Architecture: Approaches from the Caribbean and the Pacific.” During the event, experts from Pacific and Caribbean policy, academia, and multilateral communities examined how Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are navigating an increasingly fragmented and transactional international environment. Discussion centered on the evolving relationship between climate diplomacy, geopolitical competition, development finance, sovereignty, and strategic agency.
This document includes think pieces by Transform Aqorau, vice chancellor of Solomon Islands National University; Nand C. Bardouille, manager of Diplomatic Academy of the Caribbean in the Institute of International Relations at The University of the West Indies St. Augustine Campus; and Ivelaw Lloyd Griffith, a fellow with the Caribbean Policy Consortium. Each of these authors considers how Caribbean and Pacific states are navigating a rapidly shifting global order, with focused attention on the ways in which local and global developments are affecting regional approaches to maritime security and strategic autonomy.
