The Pacific Islands Forum – the Pacific’s most influential regional body – is in disarray after nearly one-third of its member countries quit en masse. By a long-standing convention - known as the ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ – the leadership of the Pacific Islands Forum cycles through the three major sub-regions across the Pacific: Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. Facebook Twitter Pinterest The five Micronesian nations of the Pacific Islands Forum have all withdrawn from the forum. With Micronesian nations out, there will be no countries in the Pacific Islands Forum north of the equator. Jonathan Pryke, director of the Pacific Islands Program at the Lowy Institute, said the defections were a “a disaster for the both the forum, and Pacific regionalism”.

Source: The Guardian February 08, 2021 22:17 UTC