Tropical island imagery
The imagery of the Caribbean islands is imported into the reader's mind for the discussion of geopolitics and island nations. The island nation of Bourne island is literally only defined by this imagery, because the island nation stands in as a synecdoche for all island nations. The imagery is one of unimaginable natural beauty, but with the balance threatened by foreign powers who want to exploit the naturally dense region of its resources. The imagery of the island as a source of life is the very aspect that threatens its longevity.
Economy and business
On the social aspect of island life, the island is partially insulated from the rest of the world, but that is not necessarily an advantage. This means that the businesses on the island are a mix of local and globalized businesses from other parts of the world. With relative ease, the foreign interests offer the island leaps and bounds forward in terms of products and infrastructure, but that improvement is just a Trojan horse for the real interests of the businesses and nations that invest in the island.
Exploitation
The weight of exploitation ends up being a major imagery in the novel as the professionals from America attempt to mitigate the exploitative business practices of foreign nations in Bourne Island. They realize that exploitation comes in a variety of shapes and sizes, and more importantly, the novel explores through their sense of frustration and their commitment to problem-solving that perhaps this is not a solvable issue, because the geopolitical powers behind the exploitation of Island Nations are always too powerful and callous to approve of reparations or symbiotic business practices.
Disrepair and dysfunction
The island is negatively effected by this economic dynamic, because the Island natives become more and more poor as the businesses that are planted on the island make their foreign owners wealthier and wealthier, typically by seizing and exporting Island goods and raw materials. This means a future of dysfunction for the island nation. By the end of the book, the island is firmly anti-foreign-interest in their opinion, because despite all their efforts, the exploitation is clearly happening and continuing to happen.
