Since World War II the peoples of the Pacific Islands have changed rapidly from primitive isolated groups to social units that are in touch with the rest of the world. Because these changes have occurred within a short span of time, the island people, particularly the Manus, have provided the following anthropological data: a civilization can determine the direction that change will take; related elements must be changed simultaneously to assure the proper adjustment throughout the culture; change within the social organization precedes technological change; and planned change requires a model society for its foundation. For the technologically oriented systems of Russia and the United States, both seeking to impose their values on the world, the Pacific Islands offer small ecological models for the future that underline the importance of diversity, the dangers of uniformity and of assuming a model totally without discretion, and the possibility of economic blackmail if one culture controls an essential commodity. Even worldwide communication can permit the diversity of small groups and small languages if only the things that life, death, and communication depend upon are made uniform. (MAI)