Sustaining Development in Small Islands
Climate Change, Geopolitical Security, and the Permissive Liberal Order

This Element suggests new global bargain and more liberal order for Small Island Developing States for development amidst climate change.

Matthew Louis Bishop (Author), Rachid Bouhia (Author), Salā George Carter (Author), Jack Corbett (Author), Courtney Lindsay (Author), Michelle Scobie (Author), Emily Wilkinson (Author)

9781009389167, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 30 January 2025

108 pages
23 x 15.1 x 0.5 cm, 0.165 kg

The viability of small island developing states (SIDS) is threatened by three distinct processes – a backlash against globalisation; rising geopolitical competition between powers; and accelerating climate change – which are pulling at the threads binding the liberal international order together. We suggest that this order has been kinder to SIDS than is often acknowledged because its underpinning norms – sovereign equality, non-interference, and right to development – are inherently permissive and thus provide SIDS with choices rather than imperatives. Their leaders should fight for the continuation and enhancement of that order rather than be seduced by alternatives. We provide a rationale for and examples of policies to achieve this, including reforms to the way ODA is measured, debt restructured, climate finance allocated, and global governance organised. These enhancements represent the most plausible pathway for SIDS in a period of significant global upheaval. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Preface
Sustaining development in small Islands
Small Island economies
Small Island societies
Small Island environments
Small Island diplomacy
Conclusion: towards a more permissive liberal order
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: International environmental law [LBBP]