The Political Economy Of Small Tropical Islands
The Importance of Being Small

This book is a comparative study of a number of dependent and independent tropical islands and archipelagos. Its contributors seek to answer a number of vital questions affecting the security, political status and economic development of some of the world's smallest and most remote communities.

Contributions by
Robert Aldrich, John Cameron, John Connell, Fred Constant, Henrique Pinto da Costa, Mike Faber, David Hamilton-Jones, Helen M. Hintjens, Jean Houbert, David Lowenthal, David Marlow, Malyn Newitt and Gordon Titchener

Contents: Introduction, Malyn Newitt; small tropical islands - a general overview, David Lowenthal; Europe's overseas territories - vestiges of colonialism or windows on the worlds, John Connell and Robert Aldrich; constitutional change, external assistance and economic development in small islands - the case of Montserrat, David Marlow; alternative forms of decolonization in the East Caribbean - the comparative politics of the non-Sovereign Islands, Fred Constant; France's love children? the French overseas departments, Helen M. Hintjenns; the perils of being a microstate - Sao Tome and the Comoros Islands since independence, Malyn Newitt; the Mascareignes, the Seychelles and the Chagos, islands with a French connection - security in a decolonized Indian Ocean, Jean Houbert; towards an alternative development policy for Sao Tome and Principe, Henrique Pinto Da Costa; micro-states, increasing integration and awkward imperatives of adjustment - the case of the Republic of the Maldives, Mike Faber; the federated states of Micronesia - is there a pacific way to avoid a Mirab society?, John Cameron.

Helen Hintjens is at the Centre for Development Studies, The University College of Swansea. Malyn Newitt is a Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Exeter.