The China-Solomon Islands Security Pact

In this episode of GREAT POWER PODCAST, host Michael Sobolik interviews Derek Grossman about the recent security agreement between the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Solomon Islands, what it means for the United States and our Indo-Pacific allies, and what America should do moving forward.

Guest Biography

Derek Grossman is a senior defense analyst at the RAND Corporation focused on a range of national security policy and Indo-Pacific security issues. He closely tracks intensifying U.S.-China competition throughout the region, to include in Northeast, Southeast, South, and Central Asia as well as Oceania. He has led or participated in numerous RAND studies assessing regional responses to competition, with a particular emphasis on Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Pacific Island states, Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.    

Grossman is widely quoted regionally and globally. He has interviewed with Australian Broadcasting Corp, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, LA Times, New York Times, NPR, Sydney Morning Herald, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and others. Grossman has published dozens of commentaries and journal articles, including for Asia Policy, Foreign Policy, International Security, Nikkei Asia, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Studies in Intelligence, The Diplomat, The Hill, War on the Rocks, and World Politics Review.

Before RAND, Grossman served over a decade in the Intelligence Community, where he served as the daily intelligence briefer to the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency and to the assistant secretary of defense for Asian & Pacific Security Affairs. He also served at the National Security Agency and worked at the CIA on the President's Daily Brief staff. 

Grossman is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California and an Indo-Pacific Fellow at the Perth USAsia Centre. He holds an M.A. from Georgetown University in U.S. national security policy and a B.A. from the University of Michigan in political science and Asian studies.

Resources from the Conversation

• Read background about the China-Solomon Islands security pact
• Follow Derek's work at the RAND Corporation
• Check out the Lowy Institute's Pacific Aid Map
• Read Michael's analysis of the strategic importance of the Northern Pacific to the United States in RealClearDefense
• Follow Derek on Twitter