From the thesis: "The United States shares a special relationship with the Freely Associated States (FAS), resulting in a virtual extension of the United States. Given the importance of the Pacific Islands Countries (PIC) and the virtually borderless linkages of the FAS as a result of the Compacts of Free Association (COFA) agreements, the United States must look for ways to comprehensively invest in policing capacity-building efforts within the region. By analyzing Australia's efforts in the Melanesia region and the actions of the United States in the Caribbean to combat drugs, this thesis proposes a resources-optimized policy framework to overlay onto the Pacific. This thesis uses the Law Enforcement Domain Evaluation Model (LE DEM) to integrate the two policy approaches. The LE DEM incorporates the continuum of preventative measures to response options to enable the recommendation of a comprehensive policing capacity-building strategy in the Pacific. Those recommendations include expanding and equipping the Joint Interagency Task Force (JIATF) West; establishing a Micronesian fusion center; creating four supporting specialized joint task forces; and enabling digital and chemical forensics, maritime domain awareness, and financial auditing. In addition, it proposes five lines of investment efforts for joint technology and asset transfers that should be executed to enable the region to hedge against the evolving Pacific transnational threats."