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U.S. Action In Micronesia As A Norm Of Customary International Law: The Effectuation Of The Right To Self-Determination For Guam And Other Non-Self-Governing Territories, Peter Ruffatto

Washington International Law Journal

U.S. relations with the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of the Marshall Islands resulted in a status of free association for these two Micronesian nations in 1986. Meanwhile, 18 trust and non-self-governing territories still lack a status of self-determination, including U.S.-administered Guam. U.S. action in Micronesia and U.N. approval of such action creates a norm of customary international law, which mandates all administering authorities of trust and non-self-governing territories to bring to fruition these territories' right to self-determination. Although non-self-governing territories are generally categorized under a separate legal regime from that which governed U.S. action in Micronesia, the …