From Intervention to Partnership—Prospects for Development Partnership in S olomon I slands after the RAMSI

This article considers prospects for effective development partnership in Solomon Islands following the transition of development assistance from the R egional A ssistance M ission to S olomon I slands ( RAMSI ) to bilateral donors in 2013. It focuses on the shifting nature of Australian aid that has transitioned from an interventionary approach under RAMSI to a partnership‐based approach under the bilateral program. Prospects for partnership in S olomon Islands are complicated by issues of state fragility, political instability and aid dependency that undermine local ownership and alignment. While the rhetoric of partnership guided RAMSI transition, A ustralia's post‐ RAMSI aid responds to these challenges through a hybrid approach incorporating partnership and interventionary modalities. This hybrid approach reflects A ustralia's role in the co‐production of sovereignty in S olomon I slands. Recognition of the hybrid nature of A ustralian aid, and, by implication, A ustralia's ‘ownership’ of development problems in S olomon I slands, will be important to the effectiveness of future support.