Guam

January 27, 2025 | Cleo Paskal |

Who’s afraid of China? Palau inauguration calls bluff of ‘friends to all, enemies to none’

For all the regional talk of “Pacific family” and “friends to all enemies to none” who did – and who didn’t – show up for the Jan. 16 inauguration of Palau President Surangel S. Whipps Jr....

January 26, 2025 | Cleo Paskal |

Deconstructing the Inauguration: No, not that one

We have a country that is geopolitically sophisticated, with close ties to the U.S., Japan and Taiwan, and is in a highly strategic location. So who showed up to Palau’s party, and who didn’t?

January 9, 2025 | RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery |

Rewind and Reconnoiter: When Will Guam Become a Priority?

“I would not have predicted just how poorly this defense of Guam effort would be executed by the Department of Defense over the past four years. When historians reflect on poor planning...

December 16, 2024 | Jack Burnham, Reece Breaux

China Conducts Major Military Exercises Around Taiwan 

In its largest military exercise in nearly three decades, China demonstrated its growing capacity to blockade Taiwan and project power throughout the First Island Chain of Pacific archipelagos that run...

November 21, 2024 | RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery |

Bolster U.S. Military

As a new administration is poised to take charge in January 2025, it will face a markedly different threat landscape than its predecessor. The United States and its allies now confront an axis of authoritarians...

July 4, 2024 | Antonette Bowman |

The Surprising National Security Role of America’s “Best Idea”

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s former bodyguard, who once reportedly confronted a bear at a mountain retreat while Putin slept through the ordeal, was appointed secretary of the...

July 1, 2024 | Cleo Paskal |

Protecting the Corridor of Freedom to America’s Asian Border

Excerpt Guam and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)—constituent parts of the United States—sit in such proximity to the Asian coast that the CNMI shares a maritime border with Japan....

June 20, 2024 | Cleo Paskal |

Remembering Saipan: The battle that reshaped the Pacific

Nine days after D-Day, on June 15, 1944, the Battle of Saipan erupted on the other side of the world. It was to be as pivotal for the Pacific Theater as D-Day was for the war in Europe. Eighty years...

April 28, 2024 | Cleo Paskal |

China watches as the U.S. fumbles around in central Pacific

...

April 10, 2024 | Col. Grant Newsham, Cleo Paskal

NATO Isn’t Defending Guam, But Others Are

NATO provisions don’t include security guarantees for American Pacific Territories. But other U.S. treaty allies do—which is why this week’s meetings in D.C. are so important

December 17, 2023 | Cleo Paskal, Col. Grant Newsham

In the Pacific, U.S. bureaucracy messes up against PRC influence operation

I have no idea what the U.S. State Department was thinking. But if the goal was to help honest people in a highly strategic country that is also a close ally protect themselves against Chinese influence...

September 17, 2023 | Cleo Paskal |

War flashbacks in Guam as China projects power in the Pacific

Lourdes A. Leon Guerrero, the Governor of Guam, a US territory, is not just waiting for the rest of the US to come save them. In this interview conducted in July, she describes some of the initiatives she is hoping to get off the ground so Guam is better able to defend itself.

September 5, 2023 | David Panuelo, Richard Clark

Former President of Federated States of Micronesia David W. Panuelo Warns Country Could See Democratic Backsliding

New, exclusive interview with former President of Federated States of Micronesia, David W. Panuelo.

September 3, 2023 | Cleo Paskal |

Northern Mariana: Time to close China’s backdoor into the U.S.

‘The Northern Marianas economy continues to struggle, and the government remains in deep fiscal distress. These are conditions that make the commonwealth acutely vulnerable to CCP exploitation’.

July 21, 2023 | Cleo Paskal |

Politics Risk Derailing One of America’s Most Important Strategic Agreements

China is the biggest winner from the current train wreck that is the Marshall Islands–United States COFA negotiations.

July 9, 2023 | Cleo Paskal, Col. Grant Newsham

U.S. fighting China on the wrong battlefield

While the U.S. has been focused on preparing for the kinetic warfare battlefield, China has been registering big wins on the political warfare battlefield. You can see it all over the Pacific Islands.

June 25, 2023 | Cleo Paskal |

Palau under CCP pressure to switch recognition from Taiwan to China

The President of Palau, Surangel Whipps Jr., speaks to The Sunday Guardian on what his Pacific Island Country is facing.

June 21, 2023 | RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery |

A C2 Structure for a Strong U.S.-Japan Alliance

This commentary is part of the Exploring New Horizons: Japan’s Defense Priorities project, a CSIS Japan Chair initiative featuring analysis by leading Japanese and American scholars examining the implications...

March 22, 2023 | Cleo Paskal, Col. Grant Newsham

Beijing’s Subversive Political Warfare in the Pacific—and the Need for Greater Engagement by the United States and Taiwan

Honduras has said it intends to shift diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China. We know this story: with the exception of 2007, when St. Lucia switched from Beijing to Taipei, the trend has run in this...

March 9, 2023 | Cleo Paskal |

Micronesia’s President Writes Bombshell Letter on China’s ‘Political Warfare’

Outgoing President David Panuelo released a lengthy letter detailing Beijing’s efforts to bribe and bully Micronesian leaders – and exploring the possibility of recognizing Taiwan instead.