Catherine Wilson

Aug 3, 2024 | samoaobserver.ws | Leilani Tuala-Warren |Nick Agar |Hilda Heine |Catherine Wilson

In its 2024 National Defence Strategy, the Australian government outlined a requirement to hold adversaries at greater risk at an increased distance from Australian territory – that is, the Australian Defence Force was given the task of developing the capability to hit targets at great distances. In the accompanying Integrated Investment program, “targeting and long-range strike” was allocated 8% of capability investment in the decade to 2034.

Aug 2, 2024 | samoaobserver.ws | Leisha Lister |Indira Rosenthal |Hilda Heine |Catherine Wilson

Yazidis in Australia and around the world have been on a ten-year quest for justice for the crimes perpetrated against them, victims of an ISIS genocide in Iraq and Syria. Nadia Murad, 21 years old when ISIS overran her village in Iraq and sold into sexual slavery before escaping, was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for her advocacy for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence. But this recognition only underscores the need for justice as a test for the international community.

Jul 22, 2024 | thediplomat.com | Catherine Wilson

NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONIA — Noumea’s international airport as deserted on my arrival in early July. It was the calm after the storm. In mid-May, unrest had erupted across the islands of New Caledonia. Pro-independence activists had protested in rage at electoral reforms adopted by the French Parliament, more than 16,000 kilometers away in Paris, that would have changed voter demographics in the French overseas territory in favor of loyalists.

Jul 22, 2024 | tribunecontentagency.com | Catherine Wilson

NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONIA — Noumea’s international airport as deserted on my arrival in early July. It was the calm after the storm. In mid-May, unrest had erupted across the islands of New Caledonia. Pro-independence activists had protested in rage at electoral reforms adopted by the French Parliament, more than 16,000 kilometers away in Paris, that would have changed voter demographics in the French overseas territory in favor of loyalists.

Sep 20, 2023 | responsiblestatecraft.org | Catherine Wilson

Politics in the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu, located east of Australia, can be turbulent, with constant chessboard moves among parliamentary members with fluid party ties and frequent no confidence motions. But the strategic importance of the country to the U.S.-Australia alliance and China was a factor in the recent abrupt expulsion of the 10-month-old government led by then-Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau.