Security and the Pacific Islands: Insights from Young Pacific Leaders

The U.S. Department of State’s Young Pacific Leaders’ (YPL) program has long been a venue for fostering dialogue and enhancing ties between the United States and its Pacific partners. As part of this initiative, in the fall of 2025 the CSIS Australia Chair hosted a YPL Conference on Regional Security in Port Vila, Vanuatu, bringing together emerging leaders from across the region to explore a variety of security challenges including maritime domain awareness, disaster resilience and preparedness, and economic security. Through in-person and virtual panels, small group discussions, site visits, and discussions with senior policymakers and national security officials from around the region, participants exchanged perspectives, identified shared priorities, and developed practical recommendations to strengthen regional cooperation and engagement with external partners such as the United States.

 As part of the dialogue, CSIS asked the participants to develop essays describing a national or regional security issue of their choosing, and suggesting ways that the United States, alongside Australia, New Zealand and other nations, can more effectively partner to tackle some of these formidable challenges. This report is a compilation of those essays, with the aim of bringing this broad range of Pacific perspectives and associated policy recommendations to Washington policymaking circles. These chapters reflect the Pacific Islands’ increasingly complex security landscape, addressing issues such as cybersecurity, health security, and maritime threats including illicit drug trafficking and “dark fleets.” They also explore humanitarian assistance and disaster resilience, alongside the importance of women’s inclusion, youth opportunities, and cultural preservation.

 This piece was made possible due to the support from the U.S. Consulate in Auckland, New Zealand.