Micronesian Unity at the Crossroads: Past Events and Future Perspectives

This chapter examines the decoupling process of the six districts of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI)—Northern Marianas, Palau, Yap, Truk, Ponape (including Kosrae), and Marshall Islands—during the 1960s and 1970s. The TTPI was a political entity created according to Micronesia’s colonial history, its geographical and demographic characteristics, with diverse ethnic groups living in scarce populations on scattered tiny remote islands, economic gaps, and other internal factors determined by the United States’ security interests. The decoupling process eventually led to the establishment of territory of the United States, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, and three sovereign nations: Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Marshall Islands. Some scholars claim that the United States failed to institute regional political unity within the TTPI, while others argue that it intentionally encouraged Micronesia’s separationist sentiment. None of them, however, adequately address the Micronesians’ reactions to the United States’ geopolitical interests and actions. By assessing the primary sources mainly on the Micronesian side, this chapter presents the Micronesians’ responses to the American policy towards the TTPI in the context of the dynamics of the Cold War in Asia and the Pacific and the wave of decolonization under the United Nations’ supervision. It also investigates the historical crossroad for failed Micronesian unity that still affects today’s Micronesia, comprehended in the context of the Compact of Free Association (CoFA) with the United States, a security, political, and economic framework of the bilateral relationship deeply embedded in the present issues.