The Continued Strategic Importance of the Pacific Islands

In the near-peer competition against adversaries such as the People’s Republic of China to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the United States is extending its ties to Pacific Island nations.

Naturally, the United States’ relationship with Australia is central in helping to reach this vision. 

During the 2024 Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN meetings) held in August at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken reaffirmed the vital relationship. “At the heart of our work in the Indo-Pacific is our alliance with Australia,” said Secretary Blinken. “It [is] an anchor for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and around the world.” 

Secretary Blinken emphasized the two nations’ united vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific. “We are committed to deepening, strengthening the architecture that upholds the shared vision for the region, and working more and more with other allies, with other partners to advance the shared vision that we have,” he said. “And we have been enhancing our cooperation with Pacific Island countries.”

The emphasis on relationships with Pacific Island countries, in particular, has grown over the last few years.

Recent diplomatic efforts in the Pacific have had the United States open new embassies in Tonga and the Solomon Islands, recognize the Cook Islands and Niue as independent states for the first time and establish diplomatic ties. Additionally, the inaugural Pacific Island Forum in 2023 brought leaders to Washington, D.C., from Nauru, Vanuatu, French Polynesia, Tuvalu, the Cook Islands, the Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Fiji, Australia, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Niue, Palau, Samoa and Tonga.

“[It is] an era of mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual benefit with the United States and the Pacific Islands working together to advance a shared vision for the region that is free, that is open, that is connected, that is prosperous, that is secure, and that is resilient,” Secretary Blinken stated. “When we talk about free and open, we mean a region where countries are free to choose their own path and their own partners; where problems can be dealt with openly, rules will be reached transparently and applied fairly; and goods, ideas and people will flow freely and lawfully across land, the seas, the skies and cyberspace.”

The U.S. government also unveiled a new embassy in Papua New Guinea, with a “state-of-the-art building that I think reflects the value that we place on our partnership,” Secretary Blinken said on May 22, 2023. “We recently opened two new embassies in Solomon Islands and Tonga. We’re working to do the same in Vanuatu in Kiribati. We sent our first-ever U.S. envoy to the Pacific Islands Forum, Ambassador Frankie Reed ... to deepen our relationships across the region. America’s future is here in the Pacific.”

Given the vital role fishing plays in sustenance and trade for the Pacific Island nations, the United States and its allies are committed to combatting illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. China’s fishing practices, in particular, are some of the most concerning, given the global reach it has with its fishing fleet, U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Linda Fagan has warned. 

In addition, the U.S. government signed a 10-year $600 million agreement to support the sustainable development of Pacific Island fisheries.

In the meantime, the U.S. Coast Guard has been adding resources to combat illegal fishing in the region for several years. The addition of national security cutters has also helped to confront the narcotics trafficking, human smuggling, piracy and terrorist activities to which the region is also vulnerable. 

The Coast Guard harnesses bilateral ship-rider agreements with a number of the Pacific Island countries. The arrangements allow the U.S. sea service to send a fast response cutter and take on the ship riders or officials from the partner country, which has the authorities to enforce that country’s maritime laws. Providing the platform and the avenue to project maritime power has helped enforce fishing regulations.

America’s latest effort has the Coast Guard Cutter Harriet Lane (WMEC 903) in the region as the first-ever “Indo-Pacific support vessel,” operating specifically to defend the Pacific Island countries’ sovereignty. By March of this year, the cutter had arrived in Cairns, Australia, the midway point of its inaugural “Operation Blue Pacific” patrol, according to a report from the Coast Guard. The cutter also planned to stop in American Samoa, Samoa, Fiji and Vanuatu as it worked with various island partner nations.

“Operation Blue Pacific has allowed the Harriet Lane crew to work alongside partners with each nation’s unique expertise enhancing maritime governance architectures,” the Coast Guard stated. “Notable activities while assisting partner nations included 23 boardings of vessels fishing in exclusive economic zones.”

The cutter crew is also conducting outreach efforts with local communities, including subject matter exchanges, educational visits and tours of the Harriet Lane with partner nations’ fisheries departments and marine police officers. Operation Blue Pacific includes Australian Border Force ship riders onboard Harriet Lane for U.S. Coast Guardsman to expand their knowledge base. 

“I am incredibly proud of what the crew has accomplished thus far,” said the cutter’s commanding officer, Cdr. Nicole Tesoniero, in the report. “Harriet Lane’s continued presence in the Pacific is a testament to our decades-long support and adaptability to the evolving needs of our regional partners. We’re not just operating in the region; we’re integrating our efforts with the aspirations and needs of those we serve alongside.” 

In July, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency announced a contract award for its Project Aegir, which is designed to create capabilities that help track illicit maritime activity and increase maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region. The agency selected Palo Alto-based Orbital Insight for up to $2 million in funding. The selection effort held at the Defense Innovation Unit in Mountain View, California, brought together analysts and geospatial intelligence collection managers from the NGA and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and experts from the U.S. Coast Guard Maritime Intelligence Fusion Center Pacific.  

These efforts to help combat illicit maritime activity are also combined with continued funding to the region from the U.S. government. The crucial Compacts of Free Association agreements, achieved in March, will provide about $6.6 billion of new economic assistance over 20 years to Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau.  

The Department of Defense relies on locations in these countries, as it helps secure the region and continues to improve operations. The Indo-Pacific Command, in particular, is examining how to improve the military’s logistics in the region and will need flexibility across different locations. 

“The logistics environment will be contested,” shared Dick Palmieri, a long-time study of the Indo-Pacific and president of the AFCEA Hawaii chapter. “How do we get ahead of the bad guys who will be working against our logistics systems or how do we make our logistic decisions faster.” 

With Micronesia’s agreement, the U.S. Air Force can conduct Agile Combat Employment (ACE) operations across the area of 600 islands. In addition, Palau is home to the Tactical Multi-Mission Over-the-Horizon Radar that will provide the Department of Defense with an unprecedented level of situational air domain awareness in the maritime region. The TACMOR system, as it is known, will provide persistent, long-range, detect and track capability of air and surface targets. On December 28, 2022, the military awarded $118.4 million to Gilbane Federal to construct the radar by June 2026.

Meanwhile, the Bucholz Army Airfield on Kwajalein Atoll also allows the U.S. Air Force to position itself well for its ACE operations and for refueling. And the U.S. Army Garrison on the atoll is home to the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site. In addition, the Space Force continues to invest in the key space surveillance system located on the atoll. 

The so-called Space Fence, the service’s most sensitive search radar in its surveillance network, became operational in 2020. According to the manufacturer, Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems, the Space Fence provides uncued detection, tracking and accurate measurement of space objects, including satellites and orbital debris, primarily in low-Earth orbit. 

In July, the Space Force awarded a $25 million contract to Lockheed for the Space Fence’s continued operations, maintenance and support on Kwajalein Atoll. “The new radar permits the detection of much smaller microsatellites and debris than current systems,” the company stated. “It also significantly improves the timeliness with which operators can detect space events. The flexibility and sensitivity of the system also provides coverage of objects in geosynchronous orbit while maintaining the surveillance fence.”

Additionally, the U.S. military is fortifying several other military defense systems. In June, the Navy awarded a $249 million contract to the Black & Veatch/Jacobs joint venture to build a missile defense system and supporting infrastructure in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands.

And even while U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has ramped up to respond to geopolitical strife in the Middle East, Palmieri sees the Indo-Pacific Command continuing its steady work in the Indo-Pacific region unabated. It has dedicated funding under the Pacific Defense Initiative.

“Even when I was still active duty several years ago, they started an effort to bring additional funds to the Pacific,” he noted. “It was not considered priority theater at the time compared to CENTCOM, and CENTCOM had special funding to [operate]. So [they] went through the same effort, to put forth a budget proposition that got funded, known as the Pacific Defense Initiative.”