Australia has entered a consular race to the Pacific, even though the nation is diplomatically punching below its weight, a think tank report says.
The Lowy Institute's 2024 Global Diplomacy Index has ranked Australia's diplomatic network 26th in the world.
The nation's mere 124 diplomatic outposts puts its network at a similar size to Portugal, Chile and Pakistan, and according Ryan Neelam, the director of public opinion and foreign policy at the Lowy Institute, it reflects Australia's underinvestment in diplomacy.
"Diplomacy is often overlooked as a measure of influence, but it has never been a more important element of statecraft," he said.
“Australia’s diplomatic footprint is far smaller than its economic power would suggest.”
Though Canberra's network is generally concentrated in Asia, it has thrown its hat into the ring in the Pacific and focused on expansion in the South Pacific.
Having opened six missions in the Pacific Islands since 2017, Australia now has official representation in every member of the Pacific Islands Forum.
In addition to funding commitments to East Timor, climate agreements with Tuvalu and continued diplomatic invites to Papua New Guinea's prime minister, Canberra has maintained focus on the Pacific through a variety of political levers.
But Australia isn't the only nation with its eyes on the region.
The South Pacific has experienced the fastest diplomatic growth rate in the world, expanding by almost 10 per cent since 2017.
According to the report, this reflects "rising competition for influence in the smaller, strategically positioned Pacific Island states".
The United States has reopened its Solomon Islands embassy and opened a new outpost in Tonga while announcing two more missions in Vanuatu and Kiribati.
Meanwhile, China has also added an embassy in the Solomons while upgrading its Kiribati presence after both nations moved recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
It is expected to establish an embassy in Nauru as well after the tiny island nation switched its diplomatic recognition in January.
This reflects the broader battle between China and the US, at the top of the diplomatic leaderboard with 274 and 271 outposts respectively.
The American superpower hosts a larger network in its home continent, Europe and south Asia, but China leads in Africa, east Asia and the Pacific.
China's rise to the top has been rapid initially lagging behind the US by 23 outposts in 2011, Beijing surpassed Washington by 2019 but its growth has largely plateaued since then.
Russia meanwhile ranks sixth in diplomacy, but its network has continued to decline because of President Vladimir Putin's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Moscow has closed 14 of its international posts since the February 2022 offensive due to deteriorating ties or diplomatic expulsions while a variety of other countries have closed their Russian outposts.
Europe has expelled at least 500 Russian officials, which the Lowy Institute report says has "severely curtailed the reach of the Kremlin's human intelligence network".
