HAGÅTÑA — The Fanohge Coalition invites the island community to its upcoming event “Caught Between Empires: A Push for Peace and Security in the Mariånas” to be held on Friday, May 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Hilton Hotel Gallery. This forum will feature Dr. Robert Underwood and Dr. Ken Gofigan Kuper from the Pacific Center for Island Security or PCIS answering questions from groups in the Fanohge Coalition as well as the community. This event is free and open to the public and made possible through the generous sponsorship of Prutehi Litekyan Save Ritidian.
The idea of Guam as the “tip of America’s spear” illustrates the precarious position of our island today. It reflects the value of Guam to the U.S. because of its location on the edge of Asia as something that both projects force and also buffers against threats. But this also means that as the U.S. increases its presence in the Marianas, we increasingly become a target and under threat, something evidenced by increased training and missile tests in the region by China and North Korea.
News reports, strategic studies and the U.S. military’s own rhetoric fill our media feeds and airwaves but focus on the interests of the empires around us, rather than those of us who call Guam home. In these tempestuous times, PCIS was formed to provide grounded research and analysis about the geopolitical situation in our region that does not treat Guam like just another pawn or target. Rather than focus on the acts of empires, it takes seriously the interests of islanders and islands, the unique challenges that we face, our safety and security and our continuing questions for self-determination.
The Fanohge Coalition is a diverse network of 40 community organizations, non-profits and small businesses that are unified in supporting the right of the CHamoru people to self-determination and the need for Guam to change its political status to something fair and equitable. The coalition formed following the Fanohge March for CHamoru Self-Determination in 2019 and organizes regular events and campaigns to help sustain the conversation around decolonization.
For more information or if you have any questions, follow the Fanohge Coalition on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/fanohgecoalition), email [email protected] or contact Dr. Michael Lujan Bevacqua at (671) 988-7106.
