The Pacific's Fragile Balance: A Showdown for Influence The tiny island nation of Palau has no traffic lights, but it has become a hotbed of high stakes geopolitics.
Leaders from around the world are converging on this tranquil Pacific archipelago, where the air is thick with tension beneath the surface level camaraderie and tropical charm. Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr.
has sounded the alarm, warning against using his country as a "theater for geopolitical competition. " But it's already too late; the die has been cast.