My recent research has focused on the small states and territories of the Pacific Islands. I am at present investigating the historical legacy of the colonial period in the Pacific Islands, especially the legacy of the state itself.

I have been interested in the Pacific Islands since teaching at the University of Papua New Guinea in its early years. I also taught at the University of Hawaii, and from 1998 to 2004 I was Professor of Politics at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji. In between came a couple of decades teaching politics and international relations at Macquarie University.  I co-edited The 2006 Military Takeover in Fiji: a coup to end all coups?, ANU E Press, Canberra, 2009, and wrote Australia in International Politics: an introduction to Australian foreign policy, 3^rd edn, Allen & Unwin, Sydney, 2011. Together with Vijay Naidu, I co-edited Understanding Oceania: Celebrating the University of the South Pacific and its Collaboration with the Australian National University, ANU Press, 2019.