This is CBS I on the World with John Bachelor.

Here's John Bachelor.

From early in March, a headline in London telling a story of the vast Pacific and Oceania, a success.

U.S. passes deal to fund Pacific Island packs after delays.

Subhead.

America's Indo-Pacific allies had fretted that Biden administration was reneging on pledges to counter Chinese influence.

This is a vast canvas and the person to tell the story is Cleopascal of the Foundation for the

Defense of Democracy, who is teaching me the island nations

and the Oceania challenge between the People's Republic of China and its aggression towards these sovereigns powers and the U.S. and its allies

attempt to build defensive lines in the event there is a war in the Pacific.

Cleo, a very good evening to you.

Congratulations again and we go to your article and the diplomat appearing most recently.

We're focusing on three particular sovereign states that are part of the

compacts of free association. Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia, and the

Marshall Islands, the success in Congress. I want to begin with

where we are coming from. In your essay you mentioned the German Empire, the

Japanese Empire, the American Empire, and I'm

presuming the Soviet Empire is in here somewhere in the Cold War and the Chinese Empire. These empires all approached Oceania and these three

sovereign islands in different fashion. But you also note that this all happened

fast enough.

There are people alive who remember all of this,

or they're grandchildren of people who are alive

...