Live! The Pacific Sovereignty Deficit and Sino-US Rivalry

I was invited to speak at the first Security of Micronesia Group, hosted by the Pacific Center for Island Security in Guam.

I debuted a number of new arguments here, covering how to think about China’s desire for “strategic space” in the Pacific and its surplus labor problem compared with US declining hegemony and Washington’s desire for exclusionary control of the Pacific. I also try to explain why the Micronesian region’s “sovereignty deficit” imperils its neighboring regions of Polynesia and Melanesia, as well as why strategic autonomy is the only solution that addresses everyone’s interests.

The audio from the conversation is available to all in the video above, as well as wherever you get podcasts. The presentation slides referred to in the talk are available to patrons of the newsletter, below. ✌️