CONTENTS: Acknowledgements, Preface, About the Editors, Notes on Contributors, List of Acronyms and Abbreviations, 1. Introduction: PART I: FRAMING OCEANIA'S GEOPOLITICS: 2. 'Deputy Sheriff' vs 'New Intruder'? Assessing Australia's and China's Situational Dynamics in the South Pacific-Minran Liu, 3. The Geo-Politics of Oceania-Chris Gardiner, 4. Oceania's Anti-Nuclear Legacy: Indigenous Resistance and the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty-Aditi Dhaundiyal, Ankita Saren and Srijani Ganguly, PART II STRATEGIC VISIONS AND REGIONAL INSTITUTIONS: 5. South Pacific Islands and the Indo-Pacific Strategics: Revisiting Assumptions-Frederic Grare, 6. The European Union and Oceania: Navigating Geopolitical Challenges and Strategic Partnerships in the Region-Zdenek Rod, 7. ASEAN Centrality in the Era of Great Power Competition-William J Jones, PART III SECURITY ALLIANCES AND REGIONAL REPERCUSSIONS: 8. Castles Made of Sand: AUKUS and the Eroding Shores of the Rules-Based Order in Oceania-Dr Sarah Tzinieris, 9. The AUKUS deal and its spillovers in Southeast Asia and Oceania-Matteo Piasentin, 10. India's Engagement with the Pacific Island Countries: Harnessing the Potential-Akriti Sharma and Neeraj Singh Manhas, PART IV EMERGING POWERS, ECONOMIC STAKES AND COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES: India and Timor Leste: The Shifting Tides of Oceania-Miroslav Plundrich and Manish Jaiswal, 12. China's Belt and Road Initiative: Fostering a Commonwealth in the South Pacific-Mohamad Zreik, 13. Maritime Security in the Context of China's Belt and Road Initiative: The Strategic Stakes for East Timor and Papua New Guinea-Dr Muhammad Arif Khan, 14. A Review of the Economic Relations between Australia and the Republic of Korea amid the Sino-American Competition in the Indo-Pacific: Trade Agreements and Weapon Procurement-Alessandro Vesprini, 15. Legitimacy competition in Asia-Pacific : Comparing Chinese and US public communication about their regional Architectures-Matthieu Grandpierron, Editors' Afterword, Index, Bibliography.