Foreign policy orientations in the Indo-Pacific : thematic coding of government speeches from Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Mauritius

<p dir="ltr">This study adopted a qualitative research approach with an inductive research design. It focused on the foreign policy behaviour of four Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Indo-Pacific region: Seychelles, Solomon Islands, Fiji, and Mauritius. The primary data comprised official government speeches delivered by high-level state representatives (e.g., heads of state, foreign ministers, and UN ambassadors) between 2017 and 2024. In some instances, interviews were analysed (such as in the case of Seychelles, where interviews were available online). This was considered a speech since it reflects the state's official position. These speeches were sourced from publicly available platforms, including official government websites and the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) online database. The full dataset compiled by the researcher includes metadata for each speech, such as the speaker, date, occasion, and institutional context, as well as the speech content itself.</p><p dir="ltr"> A manual thematic analysis was conducted on the speeches. The analysis was guided by Breuning’s emblematic framework, which categorizes small state foreign policy orientations along a spectrum from compliant (aligned with major powers) to counter-dependent (resisting or distancing from major powers). Specifically, the speeches were coded to identify whether a state’s discourse reflected either (1) alignment with a major power or (2) the pursuit of a counter-dependent or anti-core foreign policy. While Breuning’s framework served as a theoretical entry point, it did not predetermine the coding process. Rather, it was used heuristically to assess its applicability to the foreign policy behaviours expressed in the empirical data. The analysis led to the identification of thematic patterns that were later used to critique and move beyond the original framework. All relevant extracts from the speeches cited in the thematic analysis are included within the body of the thesis.</p>