After years of negotiations, the third iteration of the Compacts of Free Association – Compact III – between the United States and the countries of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, are nearing completion. The COFA Amendments Act was signed into law in the United States on March 9, shortly after it was …
While disappointment lingered over U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to cancel his trip to Papua New Guinea last month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attended meetings in Port Moresby in his stead. Among the major deliverables, the United States signed a new security pact with Papua New Guinea, seen as a key victory in the competition with China for …
On September 28, while Hurricane Ian provided a devastating illustration of the terrible costs of climate change, leaders from 14 Pacific nations and territories gathered in Washington, D.C., for a historic summit in which climate action was top of the agenda. As President Joe Biden put it to the summit, “the security of America, quite frankly, and the world depends …