More from Giff Johnson

Until people in island communities begin to view good governance as a priority, many islands will likely continue muddling along the paths they are on, despite of reasonably high levels of locally-generated resources and donor aid, writes Giff Johnson.

Pacific islands need to do their homework — in the form of studies and surveys — so government decision makers have relevant information on which to base decisions, particularly as the cost of emergency responses rises, writes Giff Johnson.

A state owned enterprise in the Marshall Islands, the government’s national utility company, offers an example of how a government agency can improve performance, offering a roadmap for other SOEs and government policymakers, writes Giff Johnson.

Do we want people living there 20 years from now? If the answer is “yes,” then there are many development issues that should be addressed. If the answer is “no,” then continuing on the current path will quite likely produce the result of emptying the outer islands, writes Giff Johnson.

The Marshall Islands government must take nuclear advocacy to the next level because 13 years after its compensation petition was submitted to the U.S Congress, it is clear the government has little interest in addressing these issues, writes Giff Johnson.

Corruption in its many forms undermines national development progress. In the Pacific, corruption generally pays with few consequences to the people involved—but the consequences to the country are many and serious, writes Giff Johnson.