By Bryan Manabat
bryan@mvariety.com
Variety News Staff
PACIFIC Center for Island Security co-founder Dr. Robert A. Underwood said island communities must take a more active role in shaping security discussions rather than simply accepting military strategies imposed from outside.
“We’re sort of resigned to these military initiatives, as if we had no role, as if we had no capacity to challenge or redirect or re-engineer the activities that are ongoing,” Underwood said in a Zoom meeting with reporters on Friday. “All military strategy begins with threat assessment, so we have to engage in threat assessment on our own and not simply accept somebody else’s view.”
Underwood asked, “Is China actually going to invade Taiwan? And the further question is the United States doesn’t have a treaty with Taiwan…. There is no treaty to defend Taiwan. And so in order to be able to do that, you have to kind of then convince China not to invade Taiwan so that the American response to that…is to beef up militarily in order to dissuade that possibility.”
He said the U.S. response has been almost entirely military, while China has expanded its influence economically, diplomatically, and even through its growing role at the United Nations.
“In 10 years, everybody acknowledges that China will be stronger economically than the United States is today,” Underwood said. “So the question for us in the islands is, how do we fit into that? The line that is outlined for the islands is simply to be a target or a place from which to project offensive power into a potential Taiwan-China conflict.”
To support regional awareness, PCIS launched the Micronesian Security Monitor, a digital platform that tracks military movements, diplomatic initiatives, business investments, and humanitarian efforts across Micronesia.
“The monitor offers the opportunity for anyone in the region — or even the world — to track all the military movements occurring in the region, along with diplomatic initiatives, business investments and, hopefully, humanitarian efforts,” said Underwood, Guam’s former delegate to the U.S. Congress.
He added that the tool is designed to empower islanders with information and context, enabling them to participate meaningfully in security debates that often focus on Guam’s strategic assets and U.S.-China military competition.
PCIS, a think tank based on Guam, was established to provide island-centered analysis of security issues in Micronesia and the wider Pacific. Its mission is to ensure island voices are part of global discussions on defense, diplomacy, and development.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
