Hawaii hosted the Pacific Island Conference of Leaders in mid-September, and President Joe Biden hosted Pacific Islands leaders at the White House later that month. There, he announced more than $810 million in expanded U.S. programs for Pacific Islanders, including $130 million in investments to support climate resiliency and build sustainable blue economies. This builds on the $375 million in climate programs the U.S. already has in the region.

Critics may dismiss Washington’s overtures as a self-serving response to China’s security partnership with the Solomon Islands, but Hawaii’s relations with these islands cannot be so easily tarred. Hawaii has long acted as islands of opportunity for scholars and students of Oceania to research, study and collaborate on issues facing the islands, from climate change to labor disputes.

Through the administration’s recent measures, Hawaii gains renewed significance in the Pacific. These initiatives mean scholarly and academic exchanges will increase multifold, establishing stronger people-to-people ties.

Hawaii should also be ready to seize opportunities brought about by increased attention to the Pacific Islands from countries other than the U.S. and China.

Nations of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (“Quad”) — the U.S., plus Japan, Australia and India — contribute to the development of the region. While not as headline-grabbing as China’s regional activities, their reliability, sustainability and magnanimity make up for it.

Japan committed more than $1 billion in aid between 2011-2017 and is the sixth-largest donor to the Pacific Islands. Australia remains the largest donor, providing around $1.5 billion just in 2020-2021.

India has shown leadership in regional vaccine diplomacy. In early 2021, when the Western world banned vaccine exports, India provided vaccines not just as exports but grants, especially to island nations such as Fiji, the Solomon Islands and Nauru.

Collectively, the Quad nations could do even more.

The Quad’s role in the region could be to Washington’s advantage in the Pacific. The grouping has not, as China charged, evolved into an Indo-Pacific NATO or other kind of conventional security grouping. Instead, the Quad has focused on nontraditional security issues such as climate change, vaccines to control the pandemic, and supply chain resiliency — just what the doctor ordered for the Pacific Islands.

Pacific Islands are at the forefront of battling climate change and have witnessed first-hand climate catastrophe, but these island polities can meet these challenges with assistance in infrastructure and vital supplies. The Quad nations have individually assisted these islands in battling these challenges. As the U.S. seeks to bolster its engagement with the region, it would be prudent to use Quad as a vehicle to serve that objective.

Washington can capitalize on the goodwill that New Delhi, Tokyo and Canberra have earned over the years to recalibrate its foreign policy and build trust in the Pacific. Complementing these initiatives, organizations such as Pacific Forum, working with the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, are promoting the Women, Peace and Security agenda in islands such as the U.S. territory of Guam — which has recently expressed interest in greater engagement with other Pacific Islands — and will showcase to the region the benefits of sustained U.S. engagement.

Furthermore, initiatives such as Pacific Forum’s upcoming Young Pacific Leaders 2022 Regional Workshop on Marine Sustainability, in partnership with the U.S. State Department, will from Nov. 28-30 bring next-generation Pacific leaders to Hawaii and carry on the islands’ critical role as a meeting place fostering exchange and resilience in the region.

Over time, Washington routing its foreign policy through Honolulu, and the Quad, will bolster its ties with the Pacific. We invite other institutions and thought leaders based in Hawaii to engage with us in these endeavors and kickstart their own.

Rob York and Akhil Ramesh are director of regional affairs and resident James A. Kelly fellow, respectively, at the Pacific Forum, a Honolulu-based foreign policy research institute.