Peer-reviewed
The Republic of Palau and the United States: Self-Determination Becomes the Price of Free Association
United States conduct toward the island territories of the Pacific has been replete with broken promises and self-dealing. On the island of Palau, the evolution toward sovereignty has stalled because the United States refuses to concede defeat on the provisions of the Palau Constitution that outlaw nuclear power, nuclear weaponry, and a foreign power's exercise of eminent domain in Palau. The United States has refused to continue negotiations on the Compact of Free Association, arguing that validating those provisions jeopardizes U.S. security interests in Palau to an intolerable degree. In this Comment, the author argues that U.S. intransigence in regard to the Compact violates multiple provisions of international law. The author argues that the United States has violated both the Trusteeship Agreement and the Palauans' right of self-determination under customary international law. Furthermore, even if the Compact is now approved according to Palau's constitutional processes, the author argues that the agreement would be invalid under the international law of treaties
Article, 1990
California Law Review, 78, 19900701, 915
1990