Since the last week in June, navies and naval assets from 29 countries have been taking part the world’s largest naval exercises. The US-led Rimpac 2024 (Exercise Rim of the Pacific), the 29th such exercise to be held since 1971, claims to promote “a free and open Indo-Pacific”. But many of the Indigenous peoples of this region, which covers more than 50% of the Earth’s surface, don’t see it that way at all.
In June, Protecting Oceania, a group of Indigenous Pacific, environmental, and social justice organisations...