NO REST FOR THE AWAKE - MINAGAHET CHAMORRO

Since the start of the year I have been working on an article about militarization in the Marianas Islands. It is for a special edition of Micronesian Educator edited by Tiara Na'puti and Lisa Natividad. I'm excited at the prospect of writing it, but my schedule over the past year has been tough, in addition to family drama and other setbacks. I've been coming back and forth to it in my notebooks every month, but until now I haven't been able to really try to finish it. I spent Christmas Day typing up my scattered notes and drafts. The article is an attempt to talk about militarization, military increases, military strategy in a Marianas wide context, and the ways it divides, unities, takes and stimulates. One of the most interesting sections is on the CIA training that took place in Saipan from the late 1940s to the early 1960s. The facility was known as the Naval Technical Training Unit or NTTU and it trained anti-communist operatives to destabilize and sabotage r

Per United Nations Resolution 1541 (1960), the colonized people of non-self-governing territories such as Guam have three options to choose from when deciding a path for their decolonized future. The first is integration with their colonizer, which is commonly known in Guam as statehood. The second, free association is to form a foundational agreement and share parts of your sovereignty with another power, which is usually your former colonizer. Finally, there is independence, which contrary to common misconceptions does not mean isolation from the world, but rather joining it as a sovereign and equal entity. As I have experienced over the past decade, discussing decolonization in Guam can move from inspiring to frustrating quite quickly. People seem to resist decolonization in general and independence in particular as being impossible or dangerous. Although I have met few people on Guam who have read the work of Francis Fukuyama, most notably his book “The End of His

  Seven years ago this article was featured in the Stars and Stripes, a feature about Ritidian and its beauty. It was a piece meant to inform the military on island about the special qualities of the place, encouraging them to visit. An interesting contrast between then and now. The ginefpago of the place remains the same, although the strategic interests change. I wonder if the Stars and Stripes ever had an article about Pagat and how special it is encouraging people to go and visit.   ******************** Ritidian Point: A gorgeous slice of tropical Guam

Published on Monday, March 3, 2014 by Common Dreams Ukraine in Context: What You Don't Know About a New Cold War In a crisis that betrays simple narratives, analysts hope for solutions that de-escalate the threat of violence while protecting ordinary Ukrainians from the various interests of elite powers - Jon Queally, staff writer   A Ukrainian soldier stands inside a Ukrainian military base in Crimea as unidentified soldiers, assumed to be Russian, encircle the base. (Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty) As the events in Ukraine have sent world leaders scurrying to develop and spread narratives that serve their own interests, the complexities of the geopolitical and economic implications—whether from a Russian, American, European or Ukrainian perspective—have become elusive to those trying to understand exactly what's going on inside the country. While the U.S. media is obsesse

An editorial from the Guardian/UK to start the new year. It is true in a way. There is still no other country in the world that can challenge the US militarily (although China seems to want to try for that soon). But in terms of the interests of the US dictating the way regions see or arrange themselves, or the way people on the ground aspire for their own liberty, the fantasies that of the US as that shining beacon of light on the hill are a bit out of date. That was part of the imperialist messaging of the Cold War. This idea that the rest of the world did not only want what America had, but also were willing to trade their own interests or their resources, their sovereignty in order to get it. People have learned that freedom does not belong to any particular power or country, and that the definition of freedom is that even if someone inspires you or helps you achieve it, is that you should have the right to turn your back on them and choose a life that conflicts with what they migh

The article below from Common Dreams gives you a hint of what the term "militarism" refers to. The rhetoric in Washington D.C. right now is that the American government and economy are potentially careening towards destruction, and so cuts and sacrifices have to be made. Armageddon in just in a few weeks and so there are both offers of compromises and rhetoric of righteous obstinacy from all sides. In a moment like this, where supposedly everything is being placed upon the table whereby the people aboard the plane which is surely going to crash unless the collective load can be lightened, make the decision as to what is chucked, you can see the ideological blindspots of people based on what they refuse to put out in the open, what they keep hidden behind their backs as they make angry suggestions about what is already on the table and should be thrown away for the good of the many. It is intriguing how the most massive, overbloated, corrupt and inefficient part of the Uni

I'm writing a post right now about the "beauty" of the current situation in Gangjeong Village on Jeju Island South Korea where the people there have been resolutely resisting the building of a 400,000 square meter base which will be a dock for Aegis Destroyers from the US and South Korean militaries. Protests and civil disobedience were begun to stop construction, 34 people were arrested yesterday and I'm waiting for more details to say more. But in the meantime, I wanted to share some pictures from the current attempts to stall construction and also share a statement of solidarity with the people of Gangjeong from Japan. ************************** 【緊急声明】　Urgent statement 긴급 성명 韓国・済州島における海軍基地建設に反対します We oppose the construction plan of a navel base on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. 우리는 남한 제주도 해군 기지 계획 건설에 반대합니다 韓国政府は現在、済州島における海軍基地建設のための工事着工を、住民の反対の声を無視して強行しつつある。北東アジアの平和を求める私たち日本の市民は、工事着工の中止と基地建設計画の全面撤回を要求する。 The government of ROK is about to force throug

I was heartened last week to read the article that I've pasted below from two US Congressman, Democrat Barney Frank and Republican Ron Paul. Their article, which I found on the website The Huffington Post and is meant to be a call for reducing the amount of money that the US Government spends on its military. That amount is not only more than the military budgets of most other countries in the world combined, but it is also the majority of the US Federal budget in general (if you include the money spent on current wars). The presence or the absence of this conversation is one of the key indicators as to whether or not a society is militarized. If it is present and not just in faint traces, but is an actual subject of debate or societal contestation, then that means the society is not militarized. It may contain some elements or some tendencies, but the fact that militarization or issues such as war, peace and how much money the military gets are open topics means that the society a