Fiji’s Foreign Relations, 2006–23

Abstract

ABSTRACT From the time he assumed control over Fiji after the 2006 coup, military commander and self-appointed prime minister Frank Bainimarama was determined to assert Fiji’s independent stance in foreign policy. This was especially so after 2009, when he established an authoritarian state ruled by decree. He forged new diplomatic relations with Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Ethiopia, and emphasized Fiji’s good relations with China. Frosty relations with Australia and New Zealand warmed after the 2014 election despite Bainimarama’s unsuccessful attempt to replace the Pacific Islands Forum with his own regional organization. He became briefly prominent in UN circles as chair of COP23 in Bonn, where he publicized the fateful impact of climate change on the Pacific Islands. By 2022 the strategic rivalry between China and the United States and its allies had come to overshadow Fiji on the regional diplomatic scene. Bainimarama was defeated at the election of 2022.