A new report by the Guam-based Pacific Centre for Island Security says Palauans are growing dissatisfied with an accelerated U.S. military build-up that, the authors argue, has outpaced the environmental and sovereignty protections written into bilateral agreements. The Micronesia Security Outlook 2025 — which includes a Palau chapter authored by Jodean Remengesau of Palau’s Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and the Environment — documents instances in which required environmental safeguards and local consultations were bypassed, and warns the developments are straining public trust.
Remengesau, director of the ministry’s Bureau of Agriculture, wrote that guardrails intended to protect Palau’s environment and sovereignty “are rendered ineffective by the accelerated military buildup,” and 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.” The report singles out work on Angaur, where land was cleared for a tactical mobile over-the-horizon radar site without an environmental earthmoving permit or community consultation, in breach of Palauan law, and says piles of shredded tree debris from the clearing were later dumped on residents’ yards — creating conditions that could invite invasive coconut rhinoceros beetle infestations.
The Angaur clearing has been the subject of legal action. In 2023, Angaur Governor Steven Salii sued Palau’s central government, the Palau Environmental Quality Protection Board, the U.S. government and its military contractors, alleging violations after 271,807 square metres of land were disturbed without an environmental impact assessment and required permits. The new report revisits that case as emblematic of wider anxieties about militarisation and the erosion of established environmental procedures.
The report also places the controversy in the context of a broader security and funding arrangement under Palau’s renegotiated Compact of Free Association. Under that deal, the United States pledged an US$890-million package to Palau over 20 years, a cycle that began on October 1, 2023. The compact gives the U.S. broad rights to use Palauan land, waters and airspace and provides for Palau’s defence; the report notes Palau’s heavy fiscal reliance on compact funds and foreign aid, and says the financial ties increase the likelihood that military use of Palauan territory will expand.
That expansion is now pressing up against a near-term operational milestone: the U.S. military’s US$118 million radar project in Palau is expected to be operational this year. The report describes the shift in how radar infrastructure was presented to Palau—initially framed as a single, mutually used shoreline radar—before later developments that locals perceived as more extensive U.S. installations. The authors argue this sequence has deepened concerns about transparency and Palauan involvement in decision-making.
The publication of the Micronesia Security Outlook comes as Palau’s leader, President Whipps, undertook a historic first State visit to New Zealand, underscoring the archipelago’s simultaneous push for wider diplomatic engagement even as domestic debate intensifies over the U.S. presence. The report concedes that Palau’s strategic position amid U.S.–China rivalry makes increased involvement in international security objectives probable, but stresses that the terms and conduct of that involvement will determine whether Palau’s environmental and sovereign interests are adequately protected.
By collating documented local complaints, a high-profile lawsuit and the timeline of U.S. investments and installations, the Pacific Centre report frames the current moment as a turning point: with a major radar system due to come online and compact funding flowing, the stakes for environmental governance, legal oversight and public consultation in Palau are higher than ever.
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