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Economic Sovereignty Before Military Dependency: Why PNG’s Opposition Needs an Alternative Foreign Policy Vision for 2027

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By Bernard Yegiora The release of the PNG Foreign Policy White Paper 2025 marked an important moment in PNG’s strategic and diplomatic history. It provided a long-term framework for understanding PNG’s role within an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific region. However, as the country moves toward the 2027 General Elections, an important question must now be asked: what alternative foreign policy vision does the Opposition offer to the people of PNG? In mature democracies, opposition parties do not simply criticize government policy. They present alternative strategic frameworks that demonstrate how they would govern differently if elected into office. Foreign policy should therefore become part of the national political debate leading into 2027, especially at a time when geopolitical competition in the Pacific is intensifying. PNG today sits at the centre of growing strategic interest from major powers including China, Australia, and the United States. The country’s geography, mariti...
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Beyond UNCLOS: What the Torres Strait Treaty and PNG’s Oceans Policy Reveal About Maritime Governance

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By Bernard Yegiora  The debate surrounding the Jomard Passage has largely centred on one dominant argument: PNG cannot move toward any form of transit fee or stronger regulatory control because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) guarantees freedom of passage through international waterways. This position is often presented as absolute and legally fixed. However, the reality of maritime governance is far more nuanced. International maritime law is not applied mechanically in every context, and state practice demonstrates that countries frequently negotiate tailored arrangements to reflect geography, security concerns, environmental protection, and national interests. The Torres Strait Treaty between PNG and Australia illustrates this clearly. The Torres Strait Treaty established a unique governance framework balancing sovereignty, border management, fisheries cooperation, environmental protection, and the traditional movement rights of local communities. ...
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From Tolls to Security: Bridging the Blue Security Gap in PNG’s Foreign Policy

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 By Bernard Yegiora The debate on charging transit fees through the Jomard Passage should no longer be framed as a narrow question of revenue. It is, fundamentally, a question of how PNG finances and operationalises maritime security. The opportunity before the country is not simply to monetise a strategic waterway, but to convert that revenue into a sustained security capability. This is precisely where the concept of Blue Security—developed in my research —becomes directly relevant. The Foreign Policy White Paper 2025 provides a timely and necessary recognition of the country’s evolving security environment. It acknowledges the importance of maritime security, identifies threats such as illegal fishing and transnational crime, and calls for strengthened border and maritime governance. It also frames PNG as a steward of vast oceanic resources and aligns itself with broader regional narratives such as the Blue Pacific. Yet, despite this recognition, the policy stops short of ar...
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Reclaiming Jomard Passage: Why PNG Must Start Charging Transit Fees

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By Bernard Yegiora  The global maritime order is no longer operating on passive assumptions of free access. It is shifting toward strategic control, and states are beginning to assert their interests over critical waterways. Iran’s move to charge vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz is a clear signal that the rules are being tested . Indonesia’s discussions around the Malacca Strait reinforce the same trajectory. These developments are not anomalies—they reflect a recalibration of how sovereign states interpret control over maritime space. PNG must read this shift carefully and respond with intent. For too long, the Jomard Passage has been treated as a neutral corridor rather than a national asset. This is a fundamental policy failure. The passage sits within PNG’s maritime domain and serves as a route for international shipping, yet the country derives minimal economic benefit from its use. At the same time, PNG carries the burden of environmental risk, maritime safety concer...
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Climate Change as an Existential Security Issue in PNG: From Concept to Coordinated Response

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By Bernard Yegiora Climate change is no longer a peripheral environmental concern for PNG. It is a structural threat to national stability, human security, and state legitimacy. Seminar 8 examined this shift through the lens of the Boe Declaration on Regional Security , which explicitly identifies climate change as the “single greatest threat” to Pacific peoples. The central policy challenge is not recognition—it is execution. PNG continues to treat climate change as a development issue when it must be operationalised within the national security framework. Seminar 8 in session: unpacking climate change as an existential security threat to Papua New Guinea, with a focus on the Boe Declaration and the structural policy gaps in preparedness, coordination, and response. The 2015 drought and frost crisis, which affected nearly two million people, remains a defining case. As highlighted by Thomas and Ezebilo , the scale of the crisis was not solely the result of climatic conditions, but o...
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Repositioning Climate Diplomacy and Security in PNG: Aligning Academic Discourse with the Foreign Policy White Paper

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By Bernard Yegiora PNG’s Foreign Policy White Paper 2025 (pp. 57–58) establishes a clear strategic baseline: climate change is not a peripheral environmental issue but a core pillar of foreign policy, national development, and international engagement. When juxtaposed with the seven seminar questions derived from Goulding , Carter , Pascoe et al ., and Hualupmomi , a critical insight emerges—PNG’s policy architecture is directionally sound, but operational execution remains constrained by structural, institutional, and geopolitical limitations. For a full breakdown of the seven questions and their analytical framing, refer to the seminar recording here:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJtT0C-dYyw Screenshot from the seminar recording illustrating Question 1, which examines Goulding’s concept of Pacific Island states as “large ocean states” and its strategic relevance for enhancing regional influence in global climate change negotiations. The first point of convergence lies in G...
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PNG should reassess its automatic support for Israel at the UN

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By Bernard Yegiora PNG’s foreign policy should be guided by national interest, not sentiment, symbolism, or diplomatic habit. The Foreign Policy White Paper presents support for Israel as a settled position, linked to the 2013 bilateral declaration, the 2023 opening of PNG’s embassy in Jerusalem, and a stated intention to expand cooperation in agriculture, security and information technology. That is a major strategic commitment. It should therefore be subjected to continuous review, especially when the Middle East is entering a more dangerous and more legally contested phase.  Screenshot from Pillar 1: Strong Bilateral Relationships , page 48 of the Papua New Guinea Foreign Policy White Paper 2025 , highlighting PNG’s stated position as a “consistent supporter of Israel in the United Nations.” The immediate policy problem is that PNG’s support at the UN looks increasingly automatic. Open-source UN records show PNG voting with Israel and a very small minority of states on multip...
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