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PNG Must Tread Carefully Between China and Australia on Digital Infrastructure

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By Bernard Yegiora Key takeaways • Internet infrastructure is now a strategic national asset, not just a technical service. • PNG must avoid binary alignment in digital infrastructure decisions involving China and Australia. • A multi-partner, institution-led approach is essential to protect sovereignty, security, and development outcomes. Introduction: internet infrastructure is now strategic For PNG, the internet is no longer simply a tool for communication. It is part of national infrastructure tied to economic development, state capacity, service delivery, and security. Decisions about who builds, finances, or supports digital systems are therefore strategic choices. As geopolitical competition intensifies in the Indo-Pacific, digital infrastructure has become a key arena of influence. PNG finds itself navigating between major partners, particularly China and Australia, both of whom see telecommunications as central to regional stability and national security. This is not a si...
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PNG Foreign Policy Implementation Requires Digital Integration

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 By Bernard Yegiora  PNG’s new foreign policy white paper will set direction for the country’s diplomatic engagement in the coming years. The central challenge is not policy formulation. It is implementation. In the current environment, implementation will depend heavily on whether the state can coordinate its digital diplomatic platforms into a single operational system. At present, the digital footprint of PNG’s diplomacy is fragmented. Individual missions operate Facebook pages. The central presence of the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) exists. The official website exists. But these platforms do not function as an integrated communications architecture. PNG’s diplomatic presence abroad is active and visible on social media, as seen on the official Facebook page of the PNG High Commission in Canberra. However, without direct integration with the DFA website and central platforms, these mission-level digital efforts remain isolated rather than operating as part of a c...
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Why PNG Needs an Institutional Foreign Policy Analysis Unit

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By Bernard Yegiora Key takeaways • PNG has policy and advisory functions, but lacks a dedicated, institutionalised foreign policy analysis system. • Inconsistent analytical processes increase volatility and weaken coherence for a small state. • A modest, permanent analysis unit would strengthen decision-making without undermining political authority. Screenshot from a news report announcing PNG’s adoption of a new Foreign Policy White Paper in November 2025, marking the first comprehensive update to the country’s foreign policy framework in over 40 years. Introduction: the issue is not engagement, but process PNG is not disengaged from the world. It maintains diplomatic relations across regions, participates in multilateral forums, and increasingly debates foreign policy decisions in public and parliamentary spaces. This visibility is healthy. However, visibility alone does not guarantee coherence. What matters is how foreign policy decisions are made , not only how they are anno...
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What PNG Can Learn From Deng Xiaoping’s Reforms — A Governance Perspective

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By Bernard Yegiora Development is not only about resources — it is about strategy , institutional discipline , and how political systems make and implement decisions. In my Political Science honours sub-thesis, I examined China’s economic reforms initiated under Deng Xiaoping and assessed whether elements of that governance logic hold lessons for PNG . Over the past decade, I’ve also explored broader ideological divides in democratic governance, including in my article “Exploring the Ideological Divide: Democracy, Development, and Governance in Papua New Guinea.” (👉 https://theyegiorafiles.blogspot.com/2023/08/exploring-ideological-divide-democracy.html ). Together, these pieces foreground a critical question: when democracy is not delivering development outcomes, what governance mechanisms matter most? This article summarises the key argument of my unpublished sub-thesis in a way that connects to PNG’s contemporary policy conversations — including debates about leadership, institu...
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Rationality, Religion, and Foreign Policy Decision-Making in PNG

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By Bernard Yegiora Introduction: why decision-making models matter PNG’s foreign policy decisions have, at times, appeared inconsistent or difficult to reconcile when viewed purely through material or strategic interests. Positions taken on different international issues can seem coherent in one context and value-driven in another. This is not unusual. Foreign policy decisions everywhere are shaped by a mix of calculation, belief, domestic politics, and institutional constraints. Understanding how decisions are made therefore matters as much as evaluating what decisions are taken. This article applies insights from foreign policy analysis (FPA) to examine variation in PNG’s foreign policy decision-making across two political periods. Using PNG’s policy positions on Israel as a case study, it contrasts decision-making logics associated with the O’Neill–Pato period and the Marape–Tkachenko period. The objective is not to assess whether specific policy choices were right or wrong, but...
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What Pakistan’s Higher Education Cooperation with China Tells Us

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By Bernard Yegiora An annotated analysis relevant to my PhD research on China’s Higher Education Exchange Programs Bibi, S., & Amaan, S. (2022). Enhancing Pakistan–China cooperation in higher education . Journal of Higher Education and Development Studies , 2(1), 17–34. Title page and abstract of Bibi & Amaan (2022), Enhancing Pakistan–China Cooperation in Higher Education , published in the Journal of Higher Education and Development Studies (Vol. 2, Issue 1), outlining the scope of bilateral cooperation across science, engineering, medical, and social sciences within the broader China–Pakistan strategic partnership. Why this article matters to my PhD research A central question in my PhD research on China’s Higher Education Exchange Programs (HEEPs) in PNG is why some partner countries receive large-scale doctoral sponsorship from China while others experience more limited outcomes. Pakistan represents a high-visibility case in this regard. Over the past two decades, China ...
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What PNG Can Learn from Australia’s Pacific Research Program

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By Bernard Yegiora PNG often speaks about strengthening research capacity and improving the quality of higher education. What is less clear is how this ambition is translated into practice. One of the most effective models I have encountered comes not from PNG, but from Australia: the Pacific Research Program (PRP) administered by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). The PRP works because it treats capacity building as a system, not a slogan. It is deliberately designed around mentorship, exposure to high-quality research environments, and clear performance expectations . In doing so, it offers a practical template for how PNG could strengthen its higher education sector—if we are willing to engage with it strategically. I have participated in several PRP-supported initiatives, including the Lowy Institute Emerging Leaders Dialogue , the Pacific Research Colloquium , and the Pacific Visitor Program at the Australian National University . What distinguishes ...
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