A spectacular transition is in the Pacific Islands, as a result of which all our lives will be radically different. While the original Pacific people came from Asia, for most of the past century and earlier, nearly all Pacific Islands nations were colonies of ‘Western’ powers. But in the last fifty years or so, Asia has begun to play a bigger and bigger role in all aspects of Islands life – migration, trade and investments, aid and development, politics, strategic relations, crime, education and employment, information and media, religion, culture and sports. It is replacing the West. The process is irreversible. With his trademark breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding of the region, based on over half a century of experience, study and deliberation, Ron Crocombe documents the early connections between Asia and the Pacific, details recent and continuing changes, and poses challenging theories about the future. ‘We do not know what differences will predominate 50 years from now, but at least in this generation, significant differences will remain between values of the main Asian actors in the Islands, and those of both Islanders and Europeans. We need to prepare to live with them.’