Introduction

The world is undergoing a seismic shift. Economic interdependence, once seen as a path to shared values and stability, is now viewed as a strategic liability, prompting countries to diversify supply chains and markets away from excessive dependencies. The spread of information, once celebrated as a driver of mutual understanding, has become a battleground where disinformation and influence operations thrive in self-curated bubbles, dividing societies into competing realities. Major power competition is intensifying, the boundaries between security, economics, and information are blurring, and the division of labor between public and private sectors is being fundamentally redefined.

This volume brings together seven policy-oriented articles from emerging scholars and practitioners working on the front lines of these transformations. It addresses two broad, interrelated topics: the pursuit of economic security and the challenge of responding to disinformation. These are forms of non-traditional security shaped by advances in critical and emerging technologies, and they have increasingly become instruments that states use in pursuit of strategic advantage.

These contributions do not merely diagnose problems, but offer concrete, actionable insights and recommendations tailored to the fast-changing realities of the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. By highlighting the next-generation voices from across the region, each chapter offers a fresh perspective and contributes to a deeper understanding of how economic and informational power is wielded and resisted in today’s increasingly unpredictable international landscape.

Akira Igata

Senior Advisor

Pacific Forum

Download the full volume here.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

PART I: EMERGING ISSUES IN ECONOMIC SECURITY

A NEW AGENDA FOR TRILATERAL COOPERATION: STRENGTHENING US-JAPAN-ROK SHIPBUILDING CAPACITY

FINANCIAL DIVERSIFICATION AMID WEAPONIZATION: CHINA, MBRIDGE, AND THE PROSPECT OF A GLOBAL PUBLIC GOOD

INTEGRATING PRIVATE STRATEGIC INTERESTS INTO NATIONAL ECONOMIC SECURITY: US-CHINA CASE STUDIES IN CRITICAL INDUSTRIES

AUSTRALIA’S CLIMATE ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PACIFIC ISLANDS: ALIGNING POLICY WITH REGIONAL NEEDS

SOVEREIGNTY AS STRATEGY: ASSERTING YAPESE AGENCY IN GEOPOLITICAL COMPETITION

PART II: DISINFORMATION, NARRATIVE CONTROL, AND DEMOCRATIC RESILIENCE

TRUTH ON TRIAL: FAKE NEWS REGULATION AND FREE SPEECH IN THE PHILIPPINES

FRAMING CHINESE MEDIA STRATEGIES: GLOBAL TIMES COVERAGE OF SOUTH CHINA SEA DISPUTES, JUNE-DECEMBER 2024

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

About the Authors

LEA THOME is a China specialist and international security researcher, studying China’s industrial policy and civil-military fusion. She previously served as the Schwarzman Fellow at the Wilson Center and a Visiting Research Fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Researcher. Originally from Germany, she holds a master’s degree in Global Affairs as a Schwarzman Scholar from Tsinghua University.

WENJING WANG holds an M.A. in Asian Studies from Georgetown University and a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Global Asian Studies from DePaul University. Her research interests include Chinese foreign policy and domestic politics, U.S.-China relations, and economic security. She can be reached at [email protected].

SAE KOBAYASHI is a selected Young Leader with the Pacific Forum and a career diplomat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, currently serving at Japan’s Mission to ASEAN. Her recent work and interests focus on economic security and trade policy. She has previously worked on international trade affairs, with experience at the World Trade Organization, the economic section at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. and think tanks focusing on economic diplomacy. She holds a B.A. in Law from Keio University, an LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center specializing in international trade law and investment control, and is pursuing a Master’s in International Policy at Stanford University.

GENEVIEVE DONNELLON-MAY is a non-resident Vasey Fellow at the Pacific Forum and a Fellow at the Indo-Pacific Studies Center.

AXEL J. DEFNGIN was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi, and is from Wanyan, Gagil, Yap, Federated States of Micronesia, and holds an M.A in Pacific Islands Studies from the University of Hawaiʻi. Residing in Mangilao, Guåhan since 2024.

JOSIAH PATRICK P. BAGAYAS is a Filipino lawyer and career diplomat. He is a Foreign Service Officer detailed at the Office of Treaties and Legal Affairs of the Philippines’ Department of Foreign Affairs. Prior to his current role, he was an associate law professor at the Mariano Marcos State University where he handled courses in constitutional law, human rights law, and clinical legal education.”

NGUYEN PHUONG THAO is a PhD candidate at the Osaka School of International Public Policy, the University of Osaka, and a Young Leader at Pacific Forum. Her research interests include disinformation and influence operations, China’s foreign policy, and geopolitical tensions in the Indo-Pacific. She can be reached at [email protected]