Relationship dossier
Cook Islands
Samoa
Relationship assessment
Maritime boundary cooperation between two Pacific island governments
Cook Islands toward Samoa
+25The Cook Islands agreed with Samoa to delimit their maritime boundary, providing a concrete basis for orderly relations between the two governments.
Samoa toward Cook Islands
+25Samoa agreed with the Cook Islands to delimit their maritime boundary, providing a concrete basis for orderly relations between the two governments.
Overall relationship
+25The relationship includes a bilateral maritime boundary arrangement, which provides a durable framework for managing the governments’ maritime relationship. The extent of cooperation beyond this arrangement is less clear.
How to read these scores
Scores are rough judgments, not objective measurements or current verification. Directional scores describe government policy and conduct, not public opinion. The overall score is an independent estimate, never an average.
- −100
- Extreme sustained hostility
- −50
- Substantially adversarial
- 0
- Mixed or neutral, supported by knowledge
- +50
- Substantially cooperative
- +100
- Exceptionally close sustained partnership
“Not assessed” means there is no recorded score. Pair existence makes no claim about diplomatic recognition or established relations.
Relationship context
Overview
The Cook Islands and Samoa have cooperated on maritime boundary arrangements, agreeing to delimit their maritime boundary. Their governments also participate in regional Pacific cooperation, though that broader activity does not by itself establish the depth of direct bilateral ties.
Key developments
The Cook Islands and Samoa agreed to delimit their maritime boundary.
Major uncertainties
- The scope and implementation of bilateral arrangements beyond maritime boundary delimitation are unclear.
- The extent of ongoing direct government cooperation is unclear.