Today we are continuing with the second part of our extended talanoa series on the relationship between the US and the freely associated Pacific Islands states of the Marshall Islands, The Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.
This is as the funding arrangements around the so-called Compacts of Free Association are coming up for negotiation next year.
If you have not yet listened to part one in this series I will include a link in the description of this episode of Pacific Waves on our website rnzi.com in it we talked about the origins of the compacts, their purpose and the current state of affairs.
Today I am joined by Robert Underwood, president emiritus of the University of Guam and the territory's former congressional delegate in the US House of representatives.
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Guam is strategically important to the United States, housing both an Air Force and Navy base. Here, a US F-16 flies along the island's coastline. Photo: Guam Airforce