The echoes of Jim Sanday and his National Defence and Security Review Team’s powerful call for national realignment still hang heavy in the Fijian air — a stark warning that genuine security isn’t forged in distant deserts, but in the streets of Suva, the waters of our EEZ, and the health of our people. Now, Minister for Defence Pio Tikoduadua’s recent musings on another potential National Peacekeeping Strategy; while the critical National Security and Defence Review (NSDR) gathers dust, risks becoming a dangerous exercise in bureaucratic procrastination. Fiji stands at a precipice. The NDSR, unveiled with urgency in October 2024, provides the blueprint for survival and sovereignty Mr Sanday and team demands. Implementing it is not a choice; it is an existential imperative. Fiji must pivot homewards, and it must do so NOW, using the NSDR as its compass.
The crushing reality demands action, not more plans.
M Sanday laid bare the devastating paradox:
1. Hollowed Homeland: While soldiers guard foreign borders, Fiji’s own are porous, exploited by drug cartels and illegal fishers plundering our 1.3 million sq km EEZ. Respect earned abroad is mocked by crumbling authority at home.
2. Misplaced Priorities: Spending $82million on overseas peacekeeping while hospitals lack basics, HIV rates soar, and youth futures are consumed by addiction isn’t just unsustainable; it’s a profound betrayal of the national interest.
3. The Human Cost: Sanday forced us to see the broken homes, ravaged ecosystems, and preventable health crises festering now — the direct consequence of resources flowing outward while the domestic foundation crumbles.
The NSDR, as Minister Tikoduadua himself declared, is “not just another report but a strategic vision” to navigate these very threats to sovereignty and stability. It explicitly calls for:
q Rebalancing Security: Prioritising domestic threats — drugs, maritime security, cyber vulnerabilities, climate impacts — over unsustainable overseas commitments.
q Modernising Institutions: Updating the archaic RFMF Act (1949!) and Fiji Police Act (1965) to meet 21st-century challenges like cybercrime and sophisticated drug networks.
q Securing Our Seas: Developing a maritime capability master plan to protect our EEZ, vital for food security and sovereignty.
q Strengthening Cyber Defences: Ending the fragmented approach to cybersecurity and building robust national resilience.
q A People-Centred Approach: Ensuring security means justice, human rights, social cohesion, and economic stability for all Fijians.
Why another strategy now is a dangerous distraction
Mr Tikoduadua’s questions about peacekeeping sustainability are valid. A cost-benefit analysis (assessing opportunity costs, financial reimbursements, risks like drones/cyber threats, and diplomatic benefits) is crucial. However, launching the process for a new National Peacekeeping Strategy, before implementing the NSDR is putting the cart before the horse and squandering precious time and resources.
1. The NSDR already addresses peacekeeping: It calls for precisely the recalibration Sanday and Tikoduadua hint at — assessing scale, alignment, and sustainability. It urges Fiji to evolve its “comparative advantage” and redefine strategic autonomy. Implementing the NSDR’s governance and legislative reforms is the essential foundation for any future peacekeeping strategy.
2. Gathering dust while Fiji burns: Every day the NSDR sits unimplemented is a day our borders remain porous, our institutions outdated, our youth vulnerable, and our resources plundered. The threats Sanday and team identified, are not future projections; they are present, accelerating crises. Delaying core reforms to draft another document is administrative negligence with real-world consequences.
3. Eroding trust and credibility: Launching the NSDR with fanfare as the vital “strategic vision” and then immediately shifting focus to conceptualise another strategy, undermines public trust in the government’s commitment and competence. It signals a lack of decisiveness and follow-through when bold action is demanded.
Where implementation must pivot
The NSDR implementation must be laser-focused on reclaiming sovereignty at home:
q Immediate institutional modernisation: Fast-track amendments to the RFMF and Police Acts. This is not cosmetic; it’s fundamental to enabling effective domestic operations against modern threats.
q Maritime sovereignty NOW: Prioritise and fund the Maritime Capability Master Plan. Secure our EEZ — our economic lifeline — against illegal fishing and transnational crime. This is non-negotiable for true independence.
q Winning the domestic war on drugs: Redirect resources and military expertise (as Sanday suggested) to dismantle cartels and save a generation. This is frontline national security.
q Invest in foundational security: Allocate significant resources to healthcare (especially HIV prevention), youth programs, and climate resilience. A healthy, hopeful, and resilient populace is the bedrock of national security.
q Integrated cyber shield: Implement the NSDR’s call for unified cybersecurity and intelligence partnerships immediately. Our digital borders are as critical as our physical ones.
q Transparency and oversight: Act on the NSDR’s emphasis on accountability and civilian oversight to rebuild trust in security institutions. Words in a report mean nothing without action.
Conclusion: Sovereignty starts here, starts now
Mr Sanday issued a battle cry for Fiji’s soul: true security begins at home. The NSDR provides the battle plan. Minister Tikoduadua rightly honours Fiji’s peacekeeping legacy but acknowledges the world has changed. That change demands not another strategy document, but the immediate, decisive, and resourced implementation of the strategy Fiji already has.
Fiji cannot afford to secure the world while losing itself. The cracks in our foundation are widening. The NSDR is the tool to rebuild. Every Fijian life lost to preventable disease, every kilo of drugs flooding our streets, every illegal vessel stealing our fish, every byte of data compromised due to inaction is a testament to the cost of delay. The government must refocus its primary duty unequivocally on the people and soil of Fiji. Implement the NSDR forthwith. Pivot resources and resolve homewards. Our sovereignty, our security, and our future demand nothing less. The time for reports is over; the time for action, as defined by the NSDR we already possess, is now.