Protected States: The Political Status of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands

摘要

International recognition of the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republicof the Marshall Islands as sovereign entities accelerated following the UN SecurityCouncil termination of the US-administered UN trusteeship over them inDecember 1990. However, both states had already established substantial internationalpersonalities prior to the Security Council action. The governments ofthe United States and both nations declared the trusteeship "non-applicable" toboth in 1986, concurrently with the entry into effect of the Compact of Free Association.The two nations subsequently established diplomatic ties with suchdiverse countries as Israel, the People's Republic of China, Australia, and numerousSouth Pacific neighbors, and joined a variety of international organizations,all prior to the termination. The declarations of nonapplicability were a diplomaticsuccess, not a failure. The two entities gained loci of sovereignty when theirconstitutions went into effect in 1979. The newly established constitutional governmentsexercised their sovereignty in concluding the compact with the UnitedStates. By delegating the power of defense to the United States under the compact,the two nations became modern-day "protected states," that is, states thathave voluntarily ceded part of their sovereign powers to another nation. As protectedstates, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the MarshallIslands can be considered not only sovereign but independent, despite the seeminglimitations of the compact and its subsidiary agreements.