Territory, the Congress of Micronesia had rejected a form of association with the United States based on the Puerto Rican model and had unambiguously come out in favour of maintaining the unity of the Marshall, Caroline and Maxiana Islands. 155. Waving failed in its first attempt to impose its will on the Micronesians, the United States had dissolved the Congress of Micronesia and applied to the Trust Territory the dictum of divide and rule. 156. Further talks on the future status of the Trust Territory had taken place in an atmosphere of overt pressure by the United States. At Washington's demand, the talks between Palau and the United States were conducted in an atmosphere of strict secrecy without United Nations agreement or participation. 157. World public opinion had evinced particular concern over the military plans of the United States affecting both the present and the future of the Territory. The United States had imposed compacts and long-term military agreements on the populations of individual parts of the Trust Territory according to which the Pentagon could create, maintain and expand missile testing grounds, naval bases, -22- strategic airbases and other military sites, and create stockpiles of nuclear, chemical and other types of weapons of mass destruction. 158. That militarization represented a direct threat to Micronesia and to the entire Pacific region, and also ran counter to the active desire and aspiration of the Pacific States to create a non-nuclear zone in the South Pacific. It also flouted one of the fundamental tasks of the Trusteeship System: to further international peace and security. The island of Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands was being turned into a stockpile of nuclear warheads and an airbase in Saipan, also in the Northern Mariana Islands, was being modernized. 159. The Marshall Islands had been turned into a United States nuclear testing 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the political and strategic interests of the United States in the Pacific region, particularly in the Trust Territory of Micronesia, and the implications of these interests on the region's security and stability. The text highlights the tension between the United States' military plans and the aspirations of the Pacific States to create a non-nuclear zone.

**Category**
International relations, Politics