Essays: Why the Marshall Islands’ nuclear history still matters today

As America celebrates Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May, Rose Gottemoeller, former undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, remembers the painful history of Castle Bravo—the largest and most catastrophic US nuclear weapons test conducted in the Marshall Islands during the Cold War—and urges the United States to finish the compact extension with the three island nations to contain China’s growing influence in the Pacific.

In a second essay, Sally Clark, a former Peace Corps volunteer, recollects her discovery of the bewildering toll on the Marshallese and the environment caused by the 67 nuclear weapons tests the United States conducted between 1946 and 1958 at the Bikini and Enewetak atolls—and asks for an apology and justice.

—François Diaz-Maurin

By Rose Gottemoeller

A current security imperative: the US role in the Marshall Islands

As America celebrates Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May, a former undersecretary of state for arms control and international security remembers the painful history of Castle Bravo—the largest and most catastrophic US nuclear weapons test conducted in the Marshall Islands during the Cold War—and urges the United States to finish the compact extension with the three island nations to contain China's growing influence in the Pacific.

By Sally Clark

Nuclear tragedy in the Marshall Islands

In this personal essay, a former Peace Corps volunteer recollects her discovery of the bewildering toll on the Marshallese and the environment caused by the 67 nuclear weapons tests the United States conducted between 1946 and 1958 at the Bikini and Enewetak atolls—and asks for an apology and justice.