Dr SARINA THEYS

Dr Sarina Theys is a scholar of international relations whose research examines how non-Western small states exercise agency and influence international politics through soft power, diplomacy, and identity. Based at the University of the South Pacific in Fiji, her work focuses particularly on Pacific island states and their roles in shaping regional and global affairs.

Drawing on constructivist approaches to international relations, Dr Theys investigates how political power operates through ideas, identities, norms and social relationships, alongside material resources. Her research connects theoretical debates about small-state agency and soft power with empirical studies of Pacific island states and other non-Western states.

She is the author of The Soft Power of Non-Western Small States: Bhutan and Qatar (Routledge) and has published in leading journals such as Nature Climate Change and International Affairs. 

At USP, she teaches and supervises students in diplomacy and international affairs, contributes to university governance as an elected member of the University Senate, and undertakes a range of academic leadership and service roles.