Connecting Domestic Challenges to Foreign Policy: Week 3 Q&A Activity

By Bernard Yegiora

On Friday, 17 July 2026, students in PG428 Foreign Policy in PNG will participate in Week 3 Q&A Topic 1: Foreign Policy as an Extension of Domestic Policy. The session will examine how PNG’s internal development, governance, security, and institutional challenges shape its external relations under the Foreign Policy White Paper 2025.

The mini-lecture will be delivered by Mr. Lahui Ako, who will introduce the central argument that foreign policy does not operate separately from domestic policy. A country’s external behaviour is influenced by its internal priorities, political institutions, economic needs, security concerns, development challenges, and national ambitions.

The main inquiry question for the session is:

How does one domestic policy challenge shape PNG’s foreign policy under the Foreign Policy White Paper 2025?

Moving Beyond Policy Summary

The broader purpose of the Q&A activities is to help students move beyond merely summarising the Foreign Policy White Paper 2025. Throughout the unit, students will deconstruct and evaluate the policy using different foreign policy and international relations frameworks.

For this activity, students will use a domestic policy lens. They will examine how internal issues influence PNG’s foreign policy choices, relationships with external partners, and ability to implement policy commitments.

The analysis will follow a simple sequence:

Domestic challenge → Foreign policy response → Key partner or partners → Implementation barrier

This framework requires students to explain the relationship between what happens within PNG and how the country engages internationally.

Seven Permanent Groups

The class has been organised into seven permanent groups. Each group will examine one domestic policy area:

Group	Assigned policy area
Group 1	National security and border security
Group 2	Economic development and trade
Group 3	Infrastructure development
Group 4	Human capital development, education, and skills
Group 5	Law and order and internal stability
Group 6	Service delivery, health, and development cooperation
Group 7	Sovereignty, national unity, and strategic partnerships

There will be no Zoom breakout rooms during this session. All students will remain in the main Zoom room, allowing the facilitators to provide guidance, monitor participation, and respond immediately when groups require clarification.

Using the Moodle Database

Each group will submit one entry in the FPWP 2025 Q&A Group Analysis Database on Moodle. The Database will serve as the main collaborative workspace for the weekly Q&A activities.

One representative will submit the final response on behalf of the group, but all members are expected to contribute to the discussion and be prepared to explain the group’s findings.

Each Database entry will identify:

• the domestic policy challenge;
• how the challenge shapes PNG’s foreign policy;
• one or two relevant bilateral, regional, or multilateral partners;
• the main institutional or governance barrier; and
• supporting evidence from the FPWP 2025.

The groups will then present their findings and provide one practical recommendation for improving the connection between domestic priorities and foreign policy implementation.

Why Domestic Policy Matters

PNG’s foreign policy cannot be understood only through diplomatic meetings, international agreements, embassies, aid relationships, and engagement with major powers. Foreign policy must also be understood through PNG’s internal circumstances.

Infrastructure gaps can shape engagement with development partners and international financial institutions. Border security problems influence relations with Indonesia, Australia, and regional security partners. Human capital needs affect scholarship, training, and labour mobility arrangements. Economic challenges drive trade and investment diplomacy, while weaknesses in law and order may lead to greater international policing and security cooperation.

Domestic conditions therefore influence both the partners PNG engages and the assistance, investment, cooperation, and diplomatic support it seeks.

However, identifying foreign policy priorities is only one part of the process. The larger challenge is implementation. Weak inter-agency coordination, limited diplomatic capacity, insufficient resources, political interference, and poor alignment between national planning and foreign policy can prevent external engagements from producing meaningful domestic outcomes.

Individual Video Comments

After the group Database entry has been submitted, every student must post an individual two-minute video comment under their group’s entry. The video must be recorded using the video recording plugin in the Moodle Atto editor.

Students will respond to the following question:

Why should foreign policy not be treated as separate from domestic policy in the PNG context?

Each student must identify at least one domestic issue and explain how it influences PNG’s foreign policy. The video response will count as one comment and will be added to the student’s Assessment Task 2: Online Participation tally.

Developing Policy Analysis Skills

This activity is designed to develop analytical rather than descriptive learning. Students are not being asked simply to list PNG’s domestic problems or foreign partners. They must explain the causal and institutional relationship between domestic conditions and foreign policy behaviour.

The Foreign Policy White Paper 2025 provides an important policy framework, but its effectiveness will depend on whether PNG can connect external engagement with domestic planning, institutional coordination, national security, development priorities, and the long-term national interest.

The central lesson is straightforward: foreign policy begins at home. PNG’s ability to act effectively abroad will ultimately depend on the strength, coherence, and capacity of its domestic institutions.