Ms. Kathryn Paik1
1Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, United States
Biography:
Kathryn Paik is a deputy director and senior fellow with the Australia Chair at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Prior to joining CSIS, Kathryn served in the United States Marine Corps for over 23 years, most recently as the director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific on the National Security Council (NSC) (2021–2023), where she spearheaded numerous initiatives for the administration, including the creation of the first U.S. Pacific Partnership Strategy and the initial U.S.-Pacific Islands Forum Summit. Prior to her time at the NSC, Kathryn held a variety of positions as a Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia foreign area officer, including serving as the marine attaché to Indonesia for three years and as a CH-46E combat helicopter pilot, during which she deployed to Iraq and throughout the Indo-Pacific. Kathryn has a master’s in national security affairs from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Bachelor of Science in systems engineering from the Naval Academy. She speaks Mandarin and Indonesian.
Abstract:
2024 saw a flurry of major muscle movements from Australia in the Pacific Islands region, including the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union Treaty coming into force, the Nauru-Australia Treaty, and, most recently, the announcement of an agreement to allow a PNG Rugby team to join the National Ruby League. Despite the unique architecture of each of these bilateral arrangements, one theme remained consistent throughout: the ability of Australia to restrict each of the participating country’s ability to partner with any third nation on security. These agreements are a creative manifestation of what was outlined in Australia’s 2024 National Defence Strategy, which emphasized the importance of a “Pacific, family-first approach to security”, and committed to ensuring that Australia remained the partner of choice in the Pacific, “including on security cooperation”.
While only three Pacific Island countries have militaries, security in the Pacific – most particularly in the maritime domain – can be seen as well through a law enforcement lens. As such, efforts to ensure that security partnerships across the region do not threaten Australia's own national security cover a broad spectrum of engagement, from banking or rugby-related agreements to direct funding for police and security forces, as can be seen most recently in the Solomon Islands. Additionally, Australia has increasingly looked to coordinated with other likeminded partners such as the United States to tackle this complex challenge.