Palau’s increasing role as a forward operating area for the United States has sparked fresh domestic unease even as the nation pursues wider diplomatic ties — highlighted this week by President Surangel Whipps Jr.’s historic first State visit to New Zealand and the release of a critical new report that says safeguards meant to protect Palau’s environment and sovereignty are failing.
The Micronesia Security Outlook 2025, produced by the Guam-based Pacific Centre for Island Security, devotes a chapter to Palau authored by Jodean Remengesau, director of the Bureau of Agriculture in Palau’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment. Remengesau concludes that “the U.S military had missed and fell short of fulfilling its duties and responsibilities under the compact of the U.S with Palau,” and that the compact’s environmental guardrails have been rendered ineffective by an accelerated military buildup that has left communities “out of the loop.”
The report names specific incidents to support its findings. It says land on Angaur — one of Palau’s 16 states — was cleared for a tactical mobile over-the-horizon radar site without obtaining an environmental earthmoving permit or holding community consultations required under Palauan law. Remengesau wrote that shredded tree debris from the clearance “inviting invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle infestation” was later dumped on residents’ yards in a rushed effort to deal with the problem.
Those actions underpin litigation already underway. In 2023 Angaur Governor Steven Salii sued Palau’s central government, the Palau Environmental Quality Protection Board, the U.S. government and U.S. military contractors, alleging violations of Palau environmental laws and compact agreements after 271,807 square metres of land in the state were cleared without an environmental impact assessment or the necessary permits.
The report acknowledges the geopolitical drivers behind the activity. Under a renegotiated Compact of Free Association, the United States pledged an $US890 million package to Palau over 20 years beginning 1 October 2023, and the compact ensures U.S. defence of the islands. With a large portion of Palau’s national budget dependent on compact funds and other foreign aid, the report warns the U.S. military is likely to increase its footprint.
The U.S. radar project at the centre of recent controversy is budgeted at $US118 million and is expected to be operational later this year, the report states. Remengesau’s assessment cautions that the island nation’s “peace and sovereignty as its people once knew it has been increasingly compromised by accelerated militarization,” even while noting that Palau’s strategic position will inevitably draw it into broader U.S. and international security calculations.
Whipps’s State visit to New Zealand — the first official state-level trip by a Palauan leader to Wellington — comes as the country seeks to broaden regional relationships amid intensifying great-power competition in the Pacific. The timing gives Palau an opportunity to frame its security, environmental and sovereignty concerns to regional partners even as domestic debate and legal challenges continue to play out at home.
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