Papua New Guinea
The US–Pacific Islands Partnership, one year on
Last September, the United States made some big promises to Pacific Island Countries (PICs) at its first ever Pacific Leaders’ Summit. The brief follow-up summit scheduled to take…
Putting a PNG stamp on security
Public attention in Papua New Guinea has recently been occupied by the PNG-US Defence Agreement and the stalled Aus-PNG Security Treaty. There is not much transparency around…
The Fix: We still really don’t know PNG
We’re asking contributors to put together their own collected observations like this one – and as always, if you’ve got an idea to pitch for The Interpreter, drop a line via the…
Can PNG afford more debt?
Papua New Guinea has enormous development needs. Paying to meet these is the challenge. So the International Monetary Fund recently agreed to provide PNG a US$918 million loan.
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The downsides for Australia from the US‑PNG defence agreement
In May, the United States and Papua New Guinea signed off on a Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA). While the deal has clear benefits for PNG and potentially Australia, it is…
Bougainville – What’s next?
It has been more than three years since the people of Bougainville voted to decide their political future. The 2019 referendum, that saw 97.7 per cent of voters express a desire…
PNG’s trade ties with China are set to strengthen
Richard Maru, PNG’s trade minister, was startlingly direct at the Australia–Papua New Guinea Business Forum and Trade Expo held in Port Moresby last month. “Enough is enough,” he…
Biden’s trip cancellations reveal pitfalls of a crowded diplomatic calendar
Leave aside what Joe Biden’s absence means for the commitment to the Quad or the relative importance of Asia and the Pacific to the United States. Because if the US economy…
Not the Indo-Pacific: a Melanesian view on strategic competition
Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare recently affirmed his country’s adherence to the “friend to all, enemy to none” foreign policy ideal. He, like other Melanesian…