Marshall Islands

Several issues took center stage in the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) from July 2014 to June 2015, revealing ongoing tensions between the government’s duty to attend to the everyday needs of the Marshallese people and its necessary engagement with macro-level political, economic, and environmental concerns. These tensions were perhaps most apparent in the Marshall Islands’ ongoing lawsuit against the United States and eight other nuclear-armed nations, top leaders’ vocal participation in global climate-change discussions, several controversial government expenditures and continuing financial mismanagement, less-than-desirable rankings on several regional and international reports, and increasing outmigration. That said, government leaders, nongovernmental organizations, educational institutions, and private citizens made noteworthy efforts to address these issues through governmental and institutional policy, direct action, and participation in local, regional, and international organizations. Meanwhile, the run-up to the 2015 election kicked off in September 2014, with local and national elections scheduled for the third Monday in November—recently designated a national holiday by the Nitijeḷā (Parliament). As of this writing, it remains to be seen whom the people of the Marshall Islands will elect to steer their country’s course over the next four years.

With the 2015 election looming, a few key issues consistently made headlines during the period under review. Among these were two lawsuits filed in April 2014—one against the United States and eight other nuclear-armed nations (China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, and the United Kingdom) at the International Court of Justice (icj) in The Hague and the other against the United States in a federal district court in San Francisco (Radio Australia 2014; Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy 2015). RMI Minister of Foreign Affairs Tony deBrum initiated the lawsuits in consultation with the US-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation—a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for a world free of nuclear weapons. The lawsuits charged the nine nations with violating international law and failing to uphold the goals of the 1968 Non-Proliferation Treaty, which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and to promote nuclear disarmament worldwide.

While the “Nuclear Zero Lawsuits” generated widespread attention and the support of the US Conference of Mayors, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, and other world leaders, some questioned the lawsuits’ value for the Marshallese people. Among the suits’ most vocal opponents was David Paul, Marshalls Energy Company general manager and one of seven candidates vying for three Nitijeḷā seats for Kuwajleen (Kwajalein) Atoll—where Minister deBrum has held office since 2007. Despite the Marshall Islands’ nuclear legacy, Paul and others questioned the Marshall Islands’ pursuit of the lawsuits when the Nuclear Claims Tribunal, the Changed Circumstance Petition, and leaking radioactive waste on Ānewetak (Enewetak) Atoll continue to affect the health and well-being of Marshall Islanders. Critics also warned of the lawsuits’ potential impact on the Marshall Islands’ relationship with the United States and expressed concern that activists lacking expertise in disarmament law have used the Marshall Islands to advance their cause through means unlikely to yield desired results. This warning seemed to come true in early February, when a US district judge granted the US government’s motion to dismiss that lawsuit on the grounds that it was based on speculative harm and that the court lacked jurisdiction on the issue. Meanwhile at The Hague, only three of the nine nuclear-armed nations—India, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom—accepted icj jurisdiction in relation to the lawsuit, and China declined to accept the court’s authority.

The Marshall Islands’ ongoing participation in regional and international climate-change debates also captured headlines, particularly in the weeks surrounding UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Climate Summit in late September 2014. Leading the discussion was RMI President Christopher Loeak, whose “Clarion Call from the Climate Change Frontline” called attention to recent droughts, king tides, and beaches flooded by rising seas. Proclaiming a “full-blown climate emergency,” the president warned that the Marshall Islands is the climate “canary in the coal mine”—if the Marshall Islands is to be devastated by sea-level rise, others will follow (Loeak 2014). The president also...