The transnational ties established by Pacific migrants during their post-war migrations to New Zealand, the USA, Australia and elsewhere remain strong today. Cheaper, faster transport and developments in information and communications technologies have intensified these ties but they are still largely kin-based connections, with additional links through institutions such as churches and schools, and assorted other connections through villages, businesses, political groups and so on.

Over a decade ago, Ward observed: ‘how relations between the home and expatriate communities of different groups will develop in future decades remains a matter for speculation’ (Ward 1997, 192). Since then we have learned a great deal more about those relations, although as I have shown there has been a predominance of research into remittances rather than other forms of transnational ties. Even so, the literature on Pacific transnationalism was ahead of its time in some ways: paying attention to issues of class, gender and religion from the outset, recognising the more negative outcomes of transnationalism, and addressing the role of remittances. Yet the wider literature on transnationalism rarely mentions the Pacific and until recently scholars of Pacific migration made little use of the concept of ‘transnationalism’ except in the context of ‘transnational kin corporations’. More engagement with the broader literature on transnationalism will bring new approaches and insights to the work on the Pacific, and raise the profile of Pacific transnationalism within that broader literature.

Pacific transnationalism is a topic of growing importance, tied as it is to the very future of Pacific countries. Early in the 21^st century many of those countries face an uncertain future, with growing economic woes, political tensions, the impact of climate change, continuing depopulation in some cases and shifts in international relations, including changes to immigration policies in destination countries. Any issues facing Pacific peoples must be discussed in the context of both the islands and their diasporas, taking the processes of ‘world enlargement’ and transnationalism into account. Research on remittances will remain salient in the Pacific and while much has already been achieved there is still more to learn about issues such as the impact of remittances on the senders, the relationship between socio-economic status in the diaspora and the practice of remitting, and ‘contraflows’ from the home countries. In addition, a broader focus is needed to take into account the many other elements of transnationalism; issues to be explored include individuals’ fluctuations in transnational engagements, intradiasporic and indirect forms of transnationalism, return migration and the transnationalism of the second generation. The chapters that follow address some of these issues and open up even more possibilities for future research.