After more than four years of negotiations, economic aid funding was approved under the Agreement of Association, an agreement that governs the relationship between the United States and the Marshall Islands, Palau, and the Federated States of Micronesia. But will U.S. policymakers, diplomats, and lawmakers continue to focus on engagement with these and other Pacific Island nations? Or will it get less attention?
Renewing Compact funding is not an end in itself, especially as China pursues strategic objectives across the Pacific. Given the strategic environment, the United States cannot back down from its continued focus on the Pacific Islands.
good thing
Since 2018, the United States has not only negotiated new funding for the three Freely Associated Nations under the Accord, but also worked with Australia, Japan, and New Zealand to significantly expand electrification in Papua New Guinea and to upgrade Lombrum Naval Base on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.
When the Biden administration took over the reins of Pacific Islands policy in 2021, it set the field on fire. Developed the first-ever Pacific Islands Strategy, welcomed Pacific Island leaders to the White House twice, renegotiated U.S. access to South Pacific tuna fisheries, agreed to defense cooperation with Papua New Guinea, and Opened the Pacific Embassy and announced plans for two more embassies.
Ultimately, $7.1 billion in new funding under the agreement was passed into law in March 2024.
Over the past six years, the United States has grown from a modest involvement in the Pacific Islands to a full-fledged participant. However, there were difficulties along the way.
bad person
Electrification in Papua New Guinea is moving at a snail's pace, with some blaming the state-owned electricity company, PNG Power, and U.S. involvement in upgrading the Lombrum naval base appears to have evaporated.
The quickly concluded PNG defense agreement raised concerns about US intentions in the region, felt by Papua New Guineans as well as Australians. During the discussions, the author learned from US negotiators that Australian diplomats had questioned the US's credibility and tried to whitewash the negotiations. The Americans wondered why the Australians would do such a thing.
Later, in 2023, at a meeting held with officials from the Papua New Guinean Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the Washington headquarters of the U.S. Institute of Peace, the author witnessed the turmoil between the two countries. It has become clear that discrepancies in communication within Papua New Guinea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and with the United States were contributing to negative media coverage. Luckily they were able to clarify things.
New embassies have opened in the Solomon Islands and Tonga, but planned embassies in Kiribati and Vanuatu have not yet opened. The biggest concern is that the mission in Kiribati will not start. Until now, Kiribati and the United States have had a healthy relationship, but the situation appears to have changed after Tarawa switched its “one China” recognition from Taipei to Beijing. Tarawa's slow progress in opening a U.S. embassy is worrying Washington. The Biden administration had a frosty relationship with the Solomon Islands government under Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare. The United States offered to send U.S. Peace Corps volunteers to the Solomon Islands in 2019, but the Sogavare administration did little to advance the plan. Honiara, like Tarawa, appears to be ignoring Washington's entreaties.
Diplomatic turbulence is nothing new. Every new endeavor comes with growing pains, and some are just ugly.
ugly
Every new U.S. spending announcement is accompanied by an asterisk that says it depends on Congressional appropriations. But too often no one notices it.
Both parties in Congress supported funding the Free Association Compact, but the bill was still months away from passage. The dysfunction was caused by confusion over the role of Speaker of the House and repeated demands by Congress for cuts in other areas to make up for the $7.1 billion. Leaders of the Freely Associated Powers questioned whether the United States was serious. Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine said human relationships were “gradually being destroyed by party politics”.
Passage of this bill came only after extensive lobbying of members of Congress. That is alarming given the free involvement of these three countries in U.S. defense planning in the Pacific. What are the prospects for more laws?
what to do?
America's foreign policy, policy making, and development assistance all depend on Congress. The House of Representatives holds the purse strings. Without the House's buy-in and consent, funding is always going to be a problem.
The United States previously scaled back its involvement in the South Pacific to save money, leaving the region in the hands of Australia and New Zealand. The three countries did not have the same interests, but the differences were less important when the Pacific islands were not of strategic importance to Washington. But now they're on board, and the United States absolutely has to be involved and has to maintain that focus.
Congress cannot compete in funding efforts in the Pacific region. Nor can policymakers simply continue existing outdated programs. Too much is at stake. More needs to be done to explain to the executive and legislative branches of government the needs of the Pacific, particularly the basic needs of the islands, such as health care, trade, and employment. By addressing these issues, the United States can improve the lives of Pacific Islanders and build lasting bonds of friendship.
These bonds will help counter China's malign strategic efforts in the region.
Alan Tidwell is Professor of Practice at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service and Director of the Centre for Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Studies.
This article is courtesy of The Strategist and can be viewed in its original form here.
The opinions expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Maritime Executive.
