ABSTRACT
The study of the United States and Japan in the Western Pacific with particular attention to the cases of an American dependency, Micronesia, and of a newly independent nation, Papua New Guinea, focuses on these latter political entities, their historic antecedents, their economic developments and their strategic significance. The overall perspective of that emphasis, however, is to evaluate the current and future interrelationship of Micronesia and Papua New Guinea with the United States and Japan. These case studies demonstrate that despite the euphoria of independence or of its anticipation, in fact, dependence does not by any means automatically terminate by virtue of a paper change in political status, by the singing of a new national anthem or by the creation of a flag-carrying airline. Moreover, development is a concept originating among the highly educated specialized elite of the developed countries, individuals who in their “progressive” fervor for change may envision everywhere mirror images of their own culture, society and technology.
