What is the primary focus of the ICWCPO - 26?

The conference focuses on war, conflict, and peacebuilding specifically within the Oceania region.

International Conference on War, Conflict, and Peacebuilding in Oceania (ICWCPO - 26)

Name: International Conference on War, Conflict, and Peacebuilding in Oceania (ICWCPO - 26)
Start: 2026-09-11 00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-09-12 00:00:00+00:00
Location: Melbourne

Sep 11–12, 2026Melbourne, AustraliaIn-person

Registration open

The International Conference on War, Conflict, and Peacebuilding in Oceania (ICWCPO - 26) convenes in Melbourne, AUS, to address the multifaceted challenges and opportunities for peace in the Oceania region. This event brings together scholars, policymakers, and practitioners to foster dialogue and present research on historical and contemporary issues of conflict, as well as strategies for sustainable peacebuilding. The conference aims to provide a platform for exploring the unique geopolitical dynamics of Oceania, considering the impacts of global power shifts, climate change, and internal socio-political factors on regional stability. Participants will engage with diverse perspectives to develop a comprehensive understanding of conflict drivers and effective peace initiatives.

Committees & topics

Topics
Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Conflicts in Oceania · Indigenous Perspectives on Peacebuilding · Security Challenges in the Pacific Region · Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in Oceania · Human Rights and Social Justice Movements in Oceania · Conflict Resolution Strategies in Oceania · Historical Context of Wars in the Pacific · Peacebuilding Initiatives in Island Nations

Why it matters

Oceania, often perceived as a tranquil expanse, is a region grappling with complex geopolitical currents, historical grievances, and emerging security challenges. The ICWCPO - 26 is significant because it shines a spotlight on these critical issues, which are frequently overshadowed by global events in other regions. Understanding conflict and peacebuilding in this context is crucial for regional stability and global security, particularly as major powers like CHN, USA, and FRA increase their engagement in the Pacific.

The conference provides a vital forum for examining the specific forms of conflict prevalent in Oceania, ranging from resource disputes and internal political instability to the lingering effects of colonial legacies and nuclear testing. By focusing on peacebuilding, it seeks to identify and promote indigenous and internationally supported mechanisms for conflict resolution and reconciliation. This includes exploring the role of traditional governance structures, civil society organizations, and regional bodies in fostering lasting peace.

Furthermore, the event's emphasis on Oceania is particularly timely given the escalating impacts of climate change, which act as a significant threat multiplier in the region. Rising sea levels, extreme weather events, and resource scarcity can exacerbate existing tensions and create new forms of displacement and conflict. Addressing these interconnected challenges requires a nuanced and collaborative approach, which the conference aims to facilitate.

How to prepare

To effectively engage with the themes of the ICWCPO - 26, delegates should undertake a thorough review of the historical and contemporary geopolitical landscape of Oceania. This includes understanding the diverse political systems, cultural contexts, and economic realities of countries such as AUS, NZL, FJI, PNG, SLB, TLS, WSM, VUT, and MHL. A strong grasp of the region's colonial past and its ongoing implications for sovereignty and self-determination will be particularly beneficial.

Delegates should prepare to discuss specific case studies of conflict and peacebuilding efforts within Oceania, drawing on academic literature and policy reports. Familiarity with various peacebuilding frameworks and their applicability to the unique challenges of island nations will be advantageous. Consider how concepts such as "engagement-strategies" and "dynamic-analysis" can be applied to understand complex regional dynamics.

Furthermore, given the increasing external interest in the region, understanding the strategic interests and activities of extra-regional powers like CHN, USA, JPN, GBR, and FRA in Oceania is essential. Delegates should be prepared to analyze how these external influences impact local and regional peace and security. Reflecting on the "hidden-stakeholders" and conducting a "stakeholder-workshop" could offer valuable insights into the various actors influencing conflict and peacebuilding outcomes.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 5 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Australia

Australia plays a significant role in regional security and development, often acting as a key partner in peacebuilding initiatives.

Role in topic

As a major regional power, AUS is deeply invested in the stability of Oceania. It provides substantial development aid, participates in regional security forums, and often leads or contributes to peacekeeping missions. Its perspective is shaped by its strategic interests, economic ties, and concerns about geopolitical competition in the Pacific.

New Zealand

New Zealand prioritizes a diplomatic and collaborative approach to peacebuilding, emphasizing regional partnerships and climate resilience.

Role in topic

NZL maintains strong historical and cultural ties with many Pacific Island nations. Its foreign policy often focuses on supporting regional institutions, promoting good governance, and addressing the impacts of climate change, which it views as a significant security threat. NZL advocates for multilateral solutions and sustainable development in peacebuilding efforts.

Fiji

Fiji is a prominent voice for Pacific Island nations, advocating for climate action and regional self-determination.

Role in topic

FJI has a history of contributing to international peacekeeping operations and is a significant actor within regional organizations. Its perspective is heavily influenced by the existential threat of climate change and the need for greater agency for Pacific Island states in addressing their own security challenges. FJI often champions regional solidarity and resilience.

China

China is expanding its economic and strategic influence in Oceania, offering development assistance and seeking diplomatic partnerships.

Role in topic

CHN's growing presence in Oceania is a significant factor in regional geopolitics. Its engagement, primarily through infrastructure projects, trade, and diplomatic outreach, is viewed by some as an opportunity for development and by others as a source of strategic competition and potential instability. Understanding CHN's motivations and methods is crucial for analyzing regional conflict dynamics.

United States

The United States is re-asserting its strategic interests in Oceania, focusing on security partnerships and countering rival influences.

Role in topic

The USA has long-standing security alliances and interests in the Pacific. Its recent diplomatic and military re-engagement in Oceania is aimed at strengthening partnerships with traditional allies and Pacific Island nations, as well as addressing the growing influence of CHN. This involves initiatives related to maritime security, economic development, and climate resilience.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Conflicts in Oceania

European and later American colonization reshaped Oceania from the late 18th century onward, with Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand drawing borders and administrative units that bore little relation to indigenous polities. Plantation economies, indentured labor schemes (notably the importation of Indian workers to Fiji), forced relocations, and missionary-led cultural suppression produced demographic and political fault lines that still structure conflict today. Decolonization in the Pacific was uneven: most island states gained independence between the 1960s and 1980s, but France retains New Caledonia and French Polynesia, the United States administers Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas, and Indonesia incorporated West Papua in 1969 through the contested Act of Free Choice. These legacies feed directly into present-day disputes. The Bougainville conflict (1988-1998) grew from grievances over the Australian-era Panguna mine; Fiji's four coups since 1987 turn on indigenous-Indo-Fijian tensions rooted in colonial labor policy; Kanak independence movements in New Caledonia erupted again in violent unrest in 2024 after Paris altered electoral rolls; and the West Papuan insurgency continues against Indonesian rule. Nuclear testing legacies from the US (Marshall Islands), UK (Kiribati, Australia), and France (French Polynesia) compound demands for reparations and environmental remediation. Contemporary debates center on self-determination referenda, compensation for nuclear and extractive harms, and the role of former metropoles in regional security architectures such as the Pacific Islands Forum.

Key players

Indigenous Perspectives on Peacebuilding

Pacific Island societies possess deep traditions of conflict resolution rooted in kinship, reciprocity, and ritual reconciliation: the Fijian matanigasau and bulubulu, Samoan ifoga, Tongan fakalelei, Maori hui and whakawhanaungatanga, and Melanesian wantok systems all predate Westphalian statecraft. Colonial administrations frequently displaced or subordinated these mechanisms in favor of imported judicial and policing structures, creating hybrid legal orders that remain contested. Since the 1990s, post-conflict transitions in Bougainville, Solomon Islands, and Timor-Leste have explicitly drawn on customary practices, blending them with truth commissions and disarmament programs. The 2007 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and the 2017 Boe Declaration on Regional Security reinforced calls to integrate indigenous knowledge into peace processes, climate adaptation, and ocean governance. The Pacific Islands Forum's 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent frames security in expansive, culturally grounded terms that include human, environmental, and spiritual dimensions. Maori and Aboriginal peacebuilding scholarship has also influenced restorative justice models adopted internationally. Key debates concern how customary authority interacts with statutory law, the role of women and youth (often marginalized in chiefly systems), and whether donor-funded peacebuilding programs genuinely devolve power or merely instrumentalize indigenous forms.

Key players

Security Challenges in the Pacific Region

The Pacific has re-emerged as a zone of strategic competition. China's 2022 security agreement with Solomon Islands, followed by a comprehensive partnership with Kiribati and expanding policing cooperation, prompted Australia, the United States, Japan, and New Zealand to deepen engagement through AUKUS, the Partners in the Blue Pacific initiative, and bilateral compacts. The United States renewed its Compacts of Free Association with the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, and Palau in 2023-2024, securing strategic denial rights across vast ocean space. France maintains a permanent military presence through its Pacific territories, while Japan and South Korea expand maritime and infrastructure cooperation. Non-traditional threats dominate the lived security experience of island states: climate-driven sea-level rise, intensifying cyclones, illegal unreported and unregulated fishing, transnational drug trafficking, and cybercrime. The 2018 Boe Declaration recognized climate change as the single greatest threat to Pacific livelihoods. Internal security challenges persist in Papua New Guinea (tribal violence, 2024 Port Moresby riots), Solomon Islands (2021 Honiara unrest), and New Caledonia (2024 pro-independence violence). Regional debate centers on preserving Pacific agency amid great-power overtures, the future of the Pacific Islands Forum after the 2022 Micronesian withdrawal crisis, and whether expanded militarization undermines the 1985 Treaty of Rarotonga's nuclear-free zone commitments.

Key players

Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in Oceania

Pacific diplomacy operates through a dense lattice of regional bodies: the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF, founded 1971), the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the Polynesian Leaders Group, the Micronesian Presidents' Summit, and the Pacific Community. The PIF has mediated or coordinated responses to most major regional crises, from the Bougainville peace process to the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI, 2003-2017) and the Biketawa and Boe Declarations that authorize collective action on security threats. Sub-regional groupings have at times taken the lead, as when the MSG engaged with both Indonesia and the United Liberation Movement for West Papua. The 2022 Micronesian threat to leave the PIF over the secretary-general selection exposed long-running tensions between sub-regions and was resolved through the Suva Agreement. The 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent now provides the framing document for collective diplomacy, emphasizing consensus, the 'Pacific Way,' and resistance to bloc politics imposed from outside. Current challenges include managing competing offers from external partners, sustaining unified climate diplomacy in UNFCCC negotiations, resolving the New Caledonia question with France, and addressing West Papua within the constraints of ASEAN-PIF relations.

Key players

Conflict Resolution Strategies in Oceania

Oceania offers several internationally studied cases of conflict resolution. The Bougainville peace process (1997 Burnham Truce, 2001 Bougainville Peace Agreement, 2019 independence referendum) combined New Zealand-led mediation, unarmed regional monitoring, weapons disposal, and customary reconciliation. RAMSI in Solomon Islands (2003-2017) deployed a PIF-mandated police-led mission that restored order but drew critique for limited attention to underlying land and identity grievances. Timor-Leste's transition relied on UN transitional administration (UNTAET), a hybrid serious crimes process, and the CAVR truth commission. Fiji's coup cycles have been addressed through PIF suspension, Commonwealth sanctions, and eventual re-engagement after the 2014 elections, illustrating both the leverage and limits of regional conditionality. The 2021 Honiara unrest and 2024 New Caledonia violence have renewed debate about preventive diplomacy, the role of resident missions, and rapid civilian deployment. Contemporary strategy debates focus on locally led peacebuilding, integrating climate and resource stressors into early-warning systems, the appropriate use of foreign police and military deployments under the Biketawa and Boe declarations, and ensuring inclusive participation of women, youth, and churches in mediation.

Key players

Historical Context of Wars in the Pacific

Large-scale armed conflict reached Oceania through imperial competition. The late 19th century saw partition of the region among Britain, Germany, France, the US, and Japan, often imposed atop existing inter-island wars. World War I brought the seizure of German New Guinea, Samoa, and Micronesia by Allied powers; Japan's League of Nations mandate over Micronesia later became a springboard for World War II expansion. The Pacific War (1941-1945) devastated Oceania: campaigns at Guadalcanal, the Coral Sea, Tarawa, Saipan, Peleliu, and the Philippines killed hundreds of thousands and reshaped island societies through bases, labor mobilization, and bombardment. The Cold War transformed the Pacific into a nuclear theater. The US conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands (1946-1958), the UK tested at Christmas Island and Australian sites, and France conducted 193 tests in French Polynesia (1966-1996). Regional decolonization conflicts followed: the Indonesian takeover of West Papua, the Bougainville civil war, Fiji's coups, the Kanak insurgency in New Caledonia (notably the 1988 Ouvea crisis), and the Solomon Islands 'tensions' (1998-2003). These histories shape present security perceptions, claims for reparations, and Pacific insistence that the region not again be reduced to a strategic battleground.

Key players

Peacebuilding Initiatives in Island Nations

Pacific peacebuilding has evolved from externally led interventions toward locally owned, hybrid models. Major initiatives include the Bougainville Peace Agreement and the Autonomous Bougainville Government's transition toward independence, RAMSI's police-led stabilization in Solomon Islands, UNTAET and successor missions in Timor-Leste, the New Caledonia Matignon (1988) and Noumea (1998) accords, and post-coup national dialogues in Fiji. Churches, women's networks (such as the Pacific Women Mediators Network), and chiefly councils play roles often more decisive than formal state structures. Regional frameworks shape practice: the Biketawa Declaration (2000), Boe Declaration (2018), and 2050 Strategy provide political mandates; the PIF Pacific Resilience Facility and UN Peacebuilding Fund channel financing. Climate-related security risks have increasingly merged with peacebuilding agendas, recognizing that displacement, resource scarcity, and loss of land threaten social cohesion in atoll nations such as Tuvalu, Kiribati, and the Marshall Islands. Tuvalu's 2023 Falepili Union with Australia introduced a novel migration-with-dignity model. Ongoing challenges include sustaining Bougainville's political settlement, addressing New Caledonia's post-2024 trajectory, completing reconciliation processes in Solomon Islands, ensuring women's meaningful inclusion in negotiations, and preserving Pacific ownership over donor-driven programs.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for International Conference on War, Conflict, and Peacebuilding in Oceania (ICWCPO - 26).

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Supreme Court's Voting Rights Impact on 2026

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Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Engagement Strategies

Hidden Stakeholders

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Conflict Resolution

Multilateral Negotiation

Advanced Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

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Country dossier

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Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Australia September 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

International Conference on War, Conflict, and Peacebuilding in Oceania (ICWCPO - 26)

Sep 11–12, 2026Melbourne, AustraliaIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Conflicts in Oceania · Indigenous Perspectives on Peacebuilding · Security Challenges in the Pacific Region · Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in Oceania · Human Rights and Social Justice Movements in Oceania · Conflict Resolution Strategies in Oceania · Historical Context of Wars in the Pacific · Peacebuilding Initiatives in Island Nations

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 5 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Australia

Australia plays a significant role in regional security and development, often acting as a key partner in peacebuilding initiatives.

Role in topic

New Zealand

New Zealand prioritizes a diplomatic and collaborative approach to peacebuilding, emphasizing regional partnerships and climate resilience.

Role in topic

Fiji

Fiji is a prominent voice for Pacific Island nations, advocating for climate action and regional self-determination.

Role in topic

China

China is expanding its economic and strategic influence in Oceania, offering development assistance and seeking diplomatic partnerships.

Role in topic

United States

The United States is re-asserting its strategic interests in Oceania, focusing on security partnerships and countering rival influences.

Role in topic

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Colonial Legacies and Contemporary Conflicts in Oceania

Key players

Indigenous Perspectives on Peacebuilding

Key players

Security Challenges in the Pacific Region

Key players

Diplomacy and Conflict Resolution in Oceania

Key players

Conflict Resolution Strategies in Oceania

Key players

Historical Context of Wars in the Pacific

Key players

Peacebuilding Initiatives in Island Nations

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for International Conference on War, Conflict, and Peacebuilding in Oceania (ICWCPO - 26).

Recent reporting to ground your prep

Supreme Court's Voting Rights Impact on 2026

Trump's Federal Election Strategy

Supreme Court VRA Ruling Empowers GOP 2026

Arming an archipelago: Is time running out for Europe's oldest DMZ? | Euronews

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Engagement Strategies

Hidden Stakeholders

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Conflict Resolution

Multilateral Negotiation

Advanced Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Australia September 2026

By committee

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

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