Foreign policy provides details in how a country can engage in international trade, investment, economic agreement and what will impact its economic growth and stability. It also states how we can manage international crisis and humanitarian issues. Photo: Facebook / Ministry of the Prime Minister - Vanuatu
An expert in Melanesian politics says Vanuatu's first ever Foreign Policy Paper raises its profile in the midst of geo-political tension between the United States and China competing for Influence in the Pacific.
The 52 page document released last week lays out the Pacific island nation's non-aligned position and describes Vanuatu as being "unwillingly" thrust into the power competition in the region and having great demands placed on its diplomacy as a result.
Griffith University adjunct professor Tess Newton Cain says the paper has been this document in one form or another has been over a decade in the making.
RNZ Pacific Editor Koroi Hawkins spoke with Ms Newton Cain and began by asking why it has taken so long to produce.
