Fortunately, America’s foreign aid cuts didn’t exactly cripple the Pacific island region. Lowy Institute estimated that 80 percent of U.S. dollars streaming into the region are earmarked for the freely associated states—the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands—through Compacts of Free Association.

J   Across Guam and the wider Western Pacific, the ocean is more than geography; it is livelihood, culture, and legacy. For island communities whose histories, economies and identities are inseparable from the sea, decisions made far from our shores carry lasting consequences. As federal discussions advance regarding seabed mining in the Western Pacific, voices from Guam and neighboring islands are rising to underscore what is at stake: fragile marine ecosystems, indigenous c