Inside the Reef

Ahead of the games, potholes long ignored were suddenly filled with gravel. Rusting vehicles visible from the roadside were hauled away. A derelict barge that had sat for years beside an abandoned World War II-era building disappeared from view. Even the old, condemned waterfront structure itself was brightened with murals before it was eventually demolished.

In New York, contractors and small businesses did the work—and then waited. Payments were delayed, reduced or tied up in legal fights many couldn’t afford to continue. For Trump, contracts weren’t fixed obligations. They were leverage.

Beginning April 12, the company’s carriers serving the region will increase their fuel surcharge again—to 21.5 percent for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands and 23.5 percent for Micronesia.

When the U.S. State Department sanctioned Palau Senate President Hokkons Baules and former Marshall Islands mayor Anderson Jibas, the language was unequivocal.

Inside the Reef By Joyce McClure When the Trump administration announced it was recalling nearly 30 U.S. ambassadors in late December, the explanation was straightforward enough. Presidents appoint ambassadors. Presidents can recall them. That’s the system. But this shake-up is happening at a moment when China has quietly overtaken the United States in the number of diplomatic missions worldwide, and when Beijing is continuing to steadily extend its reach into the Pacific. E

The per capita enlistment rate in the U.S. military for citizens of the freely associated states (Palau, the Marshall Islands and the Federa

Ganir Bridge and the primary roads in Tamil and Gagil are subprojects funded by the Asian Development Bank’s Sustainable and Resilient Road

Inside the Reef By Joyce McClure After decades of benign neglect by the United States, the U.S. embassy in Pohnpei has ramped up its staff and is making a show of involvement in the Federated States of Micronesia in response to the U.S.-China conflict that is brewing on the horizon. This awakening of the giant has taken place while, according to Western intelligence, President Xi Jinping told the People’s Liberation Army to be prepared to take over Taiwan by 2027, if not soon

Inside the Reef By Joyce McClure Micronesian President Wesley Simina, in his recent interview with the Pacific Island Times, said having a relationship with both the U.S. and China “gives us the opportunity to be a peacekeeper in the region.” His attempt to prove that naïve idea may have been behind his recent back-to-back visits to Washington D.C. and Beijing. From what I’ve read, enlisting him as a peacekeeper in the escalating friction between the two superpowers was not

Inside the Reef By Joyce McClure “The FSM national government solicits patriotism from all citizens: Be a hero. Exercise your rights to be concern [sic] and conscientious by reporting any incident of fraud, abuse, or waste to the public auditor’s hotline.” Much like the U.S. government’s famous “We Want You” poster enlisting men and women to join the military, the FSM national government wants you to help stop corruption according to this command on the Office of the Publ

Inside the Reef By Joyce McClure Term limits for members of the U.S. Congress have been a point of discussion since the meeting of the first Constitutional Congress. But the U.S. is not the only democratic nation that might benefit from good housecleaning. The Federated States of Micronesia at both the national and state levels has calcified leadership among its members with little to no competition when election time rolls around. Yap’s two-man congressional delegation ha

Inside the Reef By Joyce McClure Yap officials who swear to uphold the state constitution often cite it when it’s to their advantage and ignore it when it is not. This extends to illegal activities that the state legislature and the court are constitutionally obligated to address but end up turning into compost in an inbox or with a ruling that the matter falls under “tradition and culture” and is pushed to the traditional councils to handle. But they often ignore matter, as