Divided Isles

Solomon Islands and the China Switch

AUS: Black Inc/ La Trobe, September 19, 2023.

UK/US/International: Manchester University Press, April 9, 2024.

“A must-read for observers of the new Pacific geopolitics”.

***

'Divided Isles is well balanced and multifaceted, providing an urgently needed counterbalance to the hawkish or complacent commentaries that skirt or reduce domestic complexities.'
Kurt Johnson, The Saturday Paper

'A lucid, well written and detailed examination of a neglected part of contemporary China's diplomacy. Based on first-hand experience, Acton Cavanough's book brings to light the upside, and the downside, of how the smallest states engage with China, and how, far from being a one-way street, this all too often ends up more like a tussle where neither side quite gets what they want.'
Kerry Brown, author of Xi: A Study in Power

'The geopolitics of China's rise is usually told from the perspective of Beijing and Washington. Divided Isles gives us a view from the periphery, revealing the complex domestic politics that animated Solomon Islands' 2019 "Switch" from recognising Taiwan to recognising China. With a journalist's nose for a good story, Cavanough's narrative is both lively and informative.'
Peter Gries, Lee Kai Hung Chair and Director, Manchester China Institute

'An insightful investigation of a dynamic series of events with profound domestic and regional implications. Absolutely a must-read for observers of the new Pacific geopolitics.'
Terence Wesley-Smith, Professor Emeritus, Center for Pacific Island Studies

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Selected Media

‘How aligning with China changed life in the Solomon Islands’

Feature interview with the New York Times.

‘Solomon Islands decides whether to stick with 'master of mayhem' Manasseh Sogavare’.

“Mr Cavanough labels Mr Sogavare a "nationalist".

"There was certainly a narrative that in embracing China, Sogavare got a lot of personal dividends from that," he says.

"But at his heart he's nationalist, and he's sceptical of outside forces, basically telling the country what to do."

ONE BOOK, THREE QUESTIONS

“The deprivation and abject poverty that I saw in the Solomons was quite shocking. I’ve seen maternity clinics with no electricity, bedding, medicine, or even trained staff, working within eyesight, literally, of the capital city, where more than $2 billion has been spent in recent years by various aid and development partners.”