ABSTRACT
This chapter seeks to connect shifting aid regimes at the global scale with changes in the aid sector in the Pacific Island region. It considers the continuous evolution of global aid regimes and discusses how these unfold differently across time and space. The chapter then discusses the most recent aid regime – retroliberalism – and its implications, noting in particular the competition between the 'traditional' Western donors and the rise of China as a new donor. Following the Second World War, the peoples of most colonial territories began clamouring for independence and by the late 1950s, most colonial powers acknowledged the legitimacy of the claims and the inevitability of decolonisation. In 2010 a New Zealand Parliamentary Committee undertook review of the country's relationships with Pacific countries. It used the term 'realm states' which actually refers to a group of countries that share the 'Queen of New Zealand' as Head of State.
