Marggraff, Daniela Bianka2026-04-142026-04-142026Daniela Marggraff (08 Feb 2026): Solomon Islands’ ‘Friends to all: enemy to none’ foreign policy: reconceptualising international friendship, Australian Journal of International Affairs, DOI: 10.1080/10357718.2026.2623477.1035-7718 (print)1465-332X (online)10.1080/10357718.2026.2623477http://hdl.handle.net/2263/109555In recent years, states from various parts of the world have embraced the concept of a ‘friends to all, enemy to none’ foreign policy. Such states include Namibia, the Philippines, Singapore, Bangladesh, and Papua New Guinea. Solomon Islands, in the south-west Pacific Ocean, has also maintained this stance consistently and fervently. Despite the frequent use of the term ‘friendship’ or ‘friend’ in the diplomatic rhetoric of states, the concept of a ‘friends to all foreign policy’ remains underanalysed in the field of International Relations and Foreign Policy Analysis. Drawing on Oelsner and Koschut’s framework for international normative friendship, this article finds that Western-oriented IR conceptions are limited in explaining Solomon Islands’ policy of friendship. It is argued that Solomon Islands pursues what this article labels ‘pragmatic friendship.’ This form of friendship is influenced by the cultural and religious contexts of Melanesian society and is both normative as well as strategic. The addition of this term expands International Relations theory to incorporate a non-Western perspective and illustrates how small states can effectively manoeuvre geopolitical competition between major powers.en© 2026 University of Pretoria. Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).FriendshipPragmatic friendshipSolomon IslandsNon-Western perspectivesForeign policyArticle