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After World War II, the United States assumed responsibilities for the Northern Mariana Islands, the Caroline Islands, and the Marshall Islands under a 1947 trusteeship agreement with the United Nations. The United States had the obligation to prepare these Micronesians for self-government or independence after termination of the trusteeship, but the Interior, State, and Defense Departments paid little attention to this question until 1961.
Willens and Siemer examine the Kennedy administration's formation of a new Micronesian policy aimed at bringing these islanders under U.S. sovereignty by 1968, the inability of the federal agencies to achieve this objective, and their refusal to acknowledge that the Northern Marianas people had very different economic and political aspirations than the other Micronesians. By 1969, the Micronesian leaders-except for those of the Northern Marianas-were increasingly attracted to a future political status that rejected United States citizenship and had most of the attributes of a sovereign nation-state. Willens and Siemer analyze the initial negotiations between United States and Micronesian representatives, the inability of the United States to respond positively to the demands of the Micronesian negotiators, and the national defense and strategic objectives at issue. By April 1972, the United States recognized that its non-fragmentation policy conflicted with the right of self-determination of the Northern Marianas people and agreed to separate status negotiations with them. A detailed review of recent Micronesian history that will be of considerable value to U.S. government officials involved with insular affairs and foreign policy and scholars and researchers of Micronesian, Pacific islands, and Marianas affairs.
List of contents
Introduction
The New Frontier Confronts the Trust Territory
The Johnson Administration Debates the Issues
The Northern Marianas Begin to Shape the Debate
The Nixon Administration Starts Negotiations
A Commonwealth Proposal Emerges
The Marianas Leaders Make Their Move
The United States Accepts the Marianas Invitation
Epilogue
List of Interviewees
Bibliography
Index
About the author
HOWARD P. WILLENS is a Managing Director of Wilsie Co., LLC. Mr. Willens has practiced law in Washington in both the public and private sectors. He served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Assistant Counsel to the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, and as Executive Director of the President's Commission on Crime in the District of Columbia. He assisted the Northern Marianas people in their status negotiations with the United States, 1972-1976, served as lead counsel to the First Marianas Constitutional Convention in 1976, and has represented the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands since 1978 on a variety of status-related issues.
DEANNE C. SIEMER is a Managing Director of Wilsie Co. LLC. Ms. Siemer has practiced law in Washington in both the public and private sectors. She served as General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Special Assistant to the Secretary of Energy, and Special Counsel to the President. She supervised a team of lawyers and support personnel at the First Marianas Constitutional Convention in 1976, coauthored a law review analysis of the Marianas Constitution, and served as counsel to the Third Marianas Constitutional Convention in 1995. She is a member of the American Law Institute and served on the Board of Trustees of the National Institute for Trial Advocacy.
