Decolonising American Micronesia

Abstract

This writing of this Working Paper was prompted by the American decision in 2019 to renegotiate the Compacts of Free Association between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and the Republic of Palau. At stake are the expiring provisions of the Compact in each case, and initial talks began in May 2020. In particular, Bill Fisher, who served as Australian consul general to Micronesia 1983–87, wished to set the record straight, from his personal perspective, on Australia’s historical role in encouraging the incorporation of the three freely associated states into the wider diplomatic network of Pacific regionalism, especially into the South Pacific Forum. His account is revealing as only a personal account can be. Stewart Firth sets this account in the wider historical framework of the time, from the Cold War to the response of the region to French nuclear tests.