Pentagon stalks Micronesia: strategic interests vs. self-determination

Abstract

If forward military bases are the achilles heel of United States foreign policy, then the Micronesian islands are destined to be a region of increasing struggle in the 1980's and 1990's. With major U.S. military installations in Guam and the Marshall Is1ands, and bases planned for Tinian, other parts of the Mariana Islands and Palau, Micronesia may become one of the most densely militarized regions in the Pacific. These bases, strategically located along the Asian periphery, will provide the U.S. with staging grounds for future intervention into Asia. But stepped up campaigns by Micronesians and other Pacific Islanders in support of nuclear free zones and demilitarization are putting U.S. military plans in jeopardy.