ABSTRACT
The superficial view of aid relationships touched in the region disguises considerable difference and debate with regard to the way Pacific Island people experience, negotiate, manage and benefit from aid. The Pacific Islands, both for donor agencies and, latterly, as an advisor for the Government of Tuvalu. For Pacific Island states, aid has become a critical and seemingly permanent element of their economies, paying for development projects, supporting capacity building, and financing government expenditure. The ownership principle was the most important and, potentially, the most revolutionary. The Pacific region had been colonised by Western states during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and decolonisation occurred rather later and more slowly than in many other parts of the world. Colonists and their supporters back in Europe considered these concepts as tools and as signifiers of progress and civilisation. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
