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The Diplomat (29 September 2023)

Patricia O'Brien

Despite domestic political headwinds, Biden’s engagement at the second U.S.-Pacific Islands summit was welcomed, as were newly announced funds, initiatives and an expanding diplomatic footprint.

As with the inaugural summit last year, the second U.S.-Pacific Islands summit in Washington, D.C., featured a raft of initiatives with attached dollar signs and U.S. government involvement from President Joe Biden down. The message of this summit, in line with Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s message to the Pacific Islands Forum leaders in May, is that the U.S. is delivering — and fast. There was a stronger showing of Pacific leadership than in 2022, a sign of how receptive the region is to what the U.S. is offering.

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