Protected States: The Political Status of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands

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1993

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University of Hawai'i Press
Center for Pacific Islands Studies

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International recognition of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands as sovereign entities accelerated following the UN Security Council termination of the US-administered UN trusteeship over them in December 1990. However, both states had already established substantial international personalities prior to the Security Council action. The governments of the United States and both nations declared the trusteeship "non-applicable" to both in 1986, concurrently with the entry into effect of the Compact of Free Association. The two nations subsequently established diplomatic ties with such diverse countries as Israel, the People's Republic of China, Australia, and numerous South Pacific neighbors, and joined a variety of international organizations, all prior to the termination. The declarations of nonapplicability were a diplomatic success, not a failure. The two entities gained loci of sovereignty when their constitutions went into effect in 1979. The newly established constitutional governments exercised their sovereignty in concluding the compact with the United States. By delegating the power of defense to the United States under the compact, the two nations became modern-day "protected states," that is, states that have voluntarily ceded part of their sovereign powers to another nation. As protected states, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands can be considered not only sovereign but independent, despite the seeming limitations of the compact and its subsidiary agreements.

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Oceania -- Periodicals.

Citation

Michal, E. J. 1993. Protected States: The Political Status of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Contemporary Pacific 5 (2): 303-32.

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