The United States signed the Declaration on U.S.-Pacific Partnership with fourteen Pacific Island Countries (PICs) in Washington on 29 September 2022. Of the sixteen PICs, members of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), only Niue and Kiribati did not sign. Their absence, however, was anticipated for reasons that were considered legitimate. Australia and New Zealand, on the other hand, who complete the 18-member PIF/Pacific regionalism, did not participate in the ceremony. They were not invited.
To give credence and legitimacy to the U.S., it can be said that its intentions had always been . . .
