Fiji’s proposal for an ‘Ocean of Peace’ in the Pacific: analysis and reflections from a peace studies perspective

Abstract

In 2023 the Prime Minister of Fiji, Sitiveni Rabuka, proposed designating the Pacific a region-wide ‘Ocean of Peace’. Two years later in 2025, after a series of wider regional deliberations, the Blue Pacific Ocean of Peace Declaration was adopted at the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Meeting. This Pacific-led peacebuilding proposal has attracted global attention but remains less examined within the peace studies literature. Drawing on public communications by Rabuka, listening sessions with Pacific Islander stakeholders, and the authors’ diverse peace studies expertise, this article examines how the Ocean of Peace was initially framed by Rabuka and how peace studies might support and learn from its development. We explore how diverse understandings of peace can address the region’s security threats; how inclusive peacebuilding approaches can strengthen engagement and practice; and how confronting violent legacies may advance peace. This article is not a prescription for what the Ocean of Peace should be. Rather, we aim to illuminate opportunities and challenges for the concept and to highlight an opportunity for transdisciplinary and transnational peace learning and dialogue.