Redefining Us Strategic Interest in Micronesia 2009
(Redacted) (2009). Redefining Us Strategic Interest in Micronesia 2009 (Thesis). National Defense Intelligence University.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
- Has attachment: File:M4BYMUI4.pdf
Abstract: The United States has a unique aid and security agreement with the Micronesian nations of the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Under a Compact of Free Association (Compact) with the small island nations, the United States provides considerable annual sector grants and trust fund contributions in exchange for exclusive military basing rights and the right to veto any foreign military access requests to the FSM and RMI or their territorial waters. This policy of “strategic denial” dates back to the Second World War, when, at great loss of life, the United States took possession of the islands after the Japanese occupation. U.S. policymakers vowed that the northern pacific islands would never again be used as a springboard for an attack on the United States.
Throughout their existence as a U.S. “Trust Territory” followed by two periods of free association with the United States as sovereign nations, U.S. policy has changed very little. Under the complex Compact, the nations struggle to successfully implement U.S. aid that is primarily administered by a domestic U.S. agency, the Department of Interior. The result has been economies that are wholly dependent on U.S. aid and have been unsuccessful in fostering economic growth. However, the FSM and RMI are stable democracies, and regional competitors take advantage of the stability fostered by the U.S. Compact to make much smaller, but high visibility economic and diplomatic overtures that have empowered the nations as a political entity. In the past decade, China in particular has instituted a regional soft power campaign that has allowed it to make economic and political advances in the region. Despite the agreement to spend billions in aid until the Compact expires in 2023, current U.S. strategy in Micronesia may not address long-term regional geopolitical threats.
Without changes in U.S. strategy, it is possible that when the current Compact expires, the FSM and RMI could demand or require more aid to continue its security agreement with the United States. Additionally, the rise of China as a regional power in Asia and its interest in the Pacific Islands suggests that there will be increased competition for influence in the coming decades. There are indications of growing dissatisfaction with the Compact in Micronesia due to a lack of development capability in the islands and inefficient U.S. administration of aid. Without a change in strategy that involves a targeted approach to aid and cooperation, the United Slates may some day discover that it has lost its closest allies in the Pacific Islands.
