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Dec 3
The tide rising under Trump’s feet
Reducing carbon emissions is probably not a policy objective. Increasing them might be.
Admin
Nov 10
Just a suggestion: Take it or leave it
Will an advisory opinion result in stronger climate protections? Laws without enforcement are just good advice. –Abraham Lincoln An...
Admin
Oct 6
What I never learned from the model United Nations
Citizens from all walks of life throughout the world have long felt an urge to get involved in environmental politics. Every year,...
Admin
Sep 8
Why I treat elections like the Olympics
Tug-of-war is not an Olympic sport, but it should be. Let me explain. In the latest challenge to Western influence in the Pacific, an...
Admin
Aug 5
A false sense of security
It turns out that Hawaii is not officially part of NATO. The more I’ve thought about it, the less surprised I am. To explain why, let me...
Admin
Jul 5
Making sense of the nonsensical
Shortly after Trump took office, when North Korea was threatening Guam with nuclear annihilation, I managed to convince people back home...
Admin
Jun 9
Immigration and asylum
The CNMI’s economy will collapse because nobody will visit, while Guam is being overrun with illegal migrants using the CNMI as a...
Admin
Apr 10
Half measures and broken promises
I’ve noticed a certain rallying cry in American presidential politics over the past few years. Both Democrats and Republicans scream it,...
Admin
Mar 10
Long live the long-lived: What does countering China actually mean?
Allow me to propose an unpopular idea: Forget about the Pacific islands. From a strategic standpoint, at least. Before you send me hate...
Admin
Jan 30
A switcheroo for the year of the election
“Elections have consequences.” –Every US Senator who voted against a Supreme Court nominee who got confirmed anyway News media love...
Admin
Dec 31, 2023
A cautious realist looks at climate change
An agreement is only as good as its implementation. This historic consensus is only the beginning of the road.— H.E. Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al...
Admin
Dec 10, 2023
Rats and audits: A tale of dissatisfaction
I once quipped that an island doomsday apocalyptic nightmare that would cause me to force my way onto a plane and get off the island as...
Admin
Nov 9, 2023
A hard landing for soft power
One year, a niece in the throes of adolescence gave me a birthday card in the form of a piece of construction paper torn in half with...
Admin
Oct 11, 2023
A tale of two alliances
AUKUS. The acronym has a nice ring to it. Perhaps it’s the “K.” It makes me think of a large island-bound bird that is now extinct. It...
Admin
Sep 7, 2023
My adventure in disaster response
A confession from the disaster response implausible deniability industrial complex To say that I was horrified at the news coming out of...
Admin
Aug 7, 2023
Odd partnerships
For better or for worse, Palau gets more attention than most of its neighbors. Or any of its neighbors when looking toward Micronesia....
Admin
Jul 9, 2023
Anchor babies for the new Cold War
Guam and Chuuk have an icy soulmate: Greenland. With autonomous self-rule except for defense and monetary policy, and perhaps a limited...
Admin
Jun 15, 2023
Tug of war
By now, either it happened, or it didn’t. Either the United States dove off the fiscal cliff and defaulted on its financial obligations—...
Admin
May 4, 2023
The world Chinafied
Several years ago, I happened to be in a shopping mall in a random country in Southeast Asia sipping coffee and watching a fashion show....
Admin
Apr 9, 2023
The hard part of sovereignty
Despite the shortcomings of human memory, when I lived in Chuuk, I remember reading a blog entry along the lines of “Why I didn’t Join...
Admin
Mar 8, 2023
New words for a new Compact
I’ll give Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. credit for one thing. Actually, I have tremendous respect for him, so I’ll give him credit...
Admin
Feb 6, 2023
How free is ‘free association’?
One afternoon as I was preparing to move to Palau, I uncovered in my local library a copy of “Embattled Island,” one of the few works...
Admin
Jan 8, 2023
What I say when I talk to myself
I think I’ve been repeating myself. Granted, most people do that more than they realize, but lately I feel like I’ve been reliving the...
Admin
Dec 6, 2022
Junkets and the geopolitical freak show
The lighter side of climate change It’s not easy being green. The conferences generate considerable greenhouse gas emissions. Host...
Admin
Nov 1, 2022
Jinping Monroe? Rhyming with History
We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we...
Admin
Oct 9, 2022
High-stakes drama in Marshall Islands
Or just another day at the office? A word of free advice: if you’re going to try to bribe legislators to create a special zone to attract...
Admin
Sep 8, 2022
A mismatched policy
When I first arrived in Palau, I was surprised to hear that gout—a form of inflammatory arthritis whose culprit is uric acid, and whose...
Admin
Jul 10, 2022
‘A rotten foundation’
Will Justice Gorsuch give the territories a Brown moment? In 1954, the nine justices of the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed in...
Admin
Jun 5, 2022
Bases and opportunity: The real threat in the Solomon Islands
Somewhere in my house, buried in a box of junk, is a phone to repair. This particular phone is the one I used when I lived in Chuuk. It...
Admin
Mar 5, 2022
The politics of sunken republics
I was a hardcore environmentalist when I started college. I’ve since become more pragmatic. I view environmentalism as the web of...
Admin
Feb 11, 2022
Climate change refugees or seekers of better economic opportunities?
It’s virtually impossible to live in the islands without hearing the word “diaspora” among foreigners. Diaspora itself is a biblical...
Admin
Jan 8, 2022
New Caledonia: A future in limbo
What do submarines and Tesla batteries have in common? France’s role in the Pacific, of course. Last September, Australia canceled a $66...
Admin
Dec 2, 2021
Climate change negotiation and orchestration
The Conference of the Parties… calls upon parties to accelerate the development, deployment and dissemination of technologies, and the...
Admin
Nov 7, 2021
Hidden riches in paradise
October 2021 was a big deal for taxes, and not because the extended filing deadline for those required to file a U.S. tax return fell on...
Admin
Oct 6, 2021
The curious case of Tiki racism
“Tiki: [Māori] A large wooden or small ornamental greenstone image of an ancestor or any human figure.” --Oxford English Dictionary One...
Admin
Sep 7, 2021
When ‘free association’ becomes a loose phrase
Every few years for the past 15 years or so, a certain obsession grips Pacific Island civil society, which is to say, the media, the...
By Gabriel McCoard
Aug 12, 2021
Biden defends the sacred right to vote, but skips over the US territories
The recent opinion in Fitisemanu v. United States, in which a federal appeals court ruled that American Samoans are not U.S. citizens,...
By Gabriel McCoard
Jul 5, 2021
A new life for the Insular Cases
American Samoa’s joy is Guam’s defeat — along with that of other island territories We have grave misgivings about forcing the American...
By Gabriel McCoard
Jun 6, 2021
Guam’s lack of a vote in Congress is related to oranges from Puerto Rico
On the evening of Feb. 15, 1898, an explosion ripped through the USS Maine, a U.S. Naval Battleship anchored at the harbor in Havana,...
By Gabriel McCoard
May 4, 2021
China versus China: Where does Micronesia fit in?
U.S. ambassador to Palau John Hennessey-Niland, alongside Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. visited Taiwan, officially known as the...
By Gabriel McCoard
Apr 2, 2021
Stupid Guam quotes
Among my random possessions is an antique globe. It’s one of my favorite things. Parts of it are battered and illegible. There’s a dimple...
By Gabriel McCoard
Mar 4, 2021
Whither the Pacific Islands Forum: Is there an alternative to regionalism?
The event itself happened quickly enough. Members of the Pacific Islands Forum elected Henry Puna, former Prime Minister of the Cook...
By Gabriel McCoard
Feb 2, 2021
A modest proposal
Covid-19 has wrought more than its share of havoc on everyone. I don’t bother combing my hair unless I have a video conference, which is...
By Gabriel McCoard
Jan 7, 2021
A preview of what’s to come
I once had a professor who shared a story about working on Capitol Hill for a prominent U.S. senator who stressed the importance of...
By Gabriel McCoard
Dec 7, 2020
Glimmers of hope amid economic chaos
Palau has long had certain advantages, and advantages beget benefits. Palau is closer to Asia. Non-stop flights eliminate the need for a U.S
By Gabriel McCoard
Dec 13, 2018
Whither the status quo?
New Caledonia and the curious tale of sovereignty “Members of the United Nations which have or assume responsibilities for the...
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