International Law and the Pacific w/ Associate Dean Pacific of Auckland's Law School Professor Guy Fiti Sinclair: 25th February, 2026

We’re constantly hearing of geopolitical tensions raring their heads across the world, with talks of ‘great powers’ flexing their dominance - commercially, economically, militarily - brazenly.

One arena of such confrontation is the Pacific. But when we discuss this region, are we sidelining the peoples and nations who actually live there?

Recently, the Associate Dean Pacific at Auckland’s Law School, Professor Guy Fiti Sinclair, hosted a workshop foregrounding Pacific-centred understandings of how the Pacific is contending with international law and governance amidst these tensions.

So how should we think of the Pacific as a region? Who are the organisations representing the ‘blue continent’, and is Aotearoa New Zealand a facilitator of Pacific interests, or just our own? Producer Theo spoke with Professor Guy Sinclair to understand more.