42 OCTOBER 2024 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL FEATURE The “Blue Continent,” historically viewed as a backwater of U.S. diplomacy, has become the scene of a new great power contest. BY JOHN HENNESSEY-NILAND MAKING OUR RHETORIC REAL U.S. Diplomacy in the Pacific Islands At the U.S.-Pacific Island Country Summit in September 2022, Secretary of State Antony Blinken (second from right) meets with (from left) President of the Republic of Palau Surangel Whipps Jr., President of the Federated States of Micronesia David Panuelo, and President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands David Kabua at the State Department in Washington, D.C. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=