The Yegiora Files

By Bernard Yegiora Retired Major-General Jerry Singirok raises a legitimate concern in The National’s article, “Defence alliance a worry” , published on 27 October 2026. His warning is that closer defence cooperation with Australia and the United States could create strategic dependency and encourage Papua New Guinean officers to understand security through the priorities of larger powers.  Screenshot of The National’s report, “Defence alliance a worry” (27 October 2026), highlighting retired Major-General Jerry Singirok’s concerns about PNG’s sovereignty and strategic dependency. Source: The National . This concern deserves serious consideration. It also raises a practical question: how well equipped are our own institutions and officers to ensure these partnerships serve PNG’s national interests? My view is that officers in the Department of Defence (DoD) and the PNG Defence Force (PNGDF) need a strong understanding of our national interests, the threats we face and the insti...

By Bernard Yegiora How can PNG ensure development cooperation serves its national priorities while strengthening its international reputation? These questions guided the case studies assigned to Groups 5 and 6 in PG428 Foreign Policy in PNG at Divine Word University. Drawing on the Foreign Policy White Paper 2025, the case studies asked students to consider practical approaches to development cooperation, national branding, soft power, and public diplomacy. Case Study 5: Development Cooperation Coordination and Aid Effectiveness Development cooperation can support PNG’s national development, but its effectiveness depends on how assistance is planned, coordinated, and managed. This case study placed students in the role of a development cooperation coordination team within the Department of National Planning and Monitoring. The scenario asked them to examine the risks of fragmented projects, donor-driven priorities, and weak integration with national and provincial planning systems. Th...

By Bernard Yegiora PNG’s Foreign Policy White Paper 2025 is more than a statement of diplomatic priorities. It is a strategic document that seeks to explain how PNG should understand its place in the world, define its national interests, organise its foreign-policy institutions and translate policy commitments into practical action. A useful way to analyse the White Paper is through Allan Gyngell and Michael Wesley’s four levels of foreign policy making: the strategic, contextual, organisational and operational levels . Gyngell and Wesley’s four interrelated levels of foreign policy making—strategic, contextual, organisational and operational—which operate simultaneously in shaping foreign policy decisions and implementation. These four levels should not be treated as separate stages in a linear process. Gyngell and Wesley argue that foreign policy making occurs simultaneously across all four levels. Each level performs a different function, but all are interconnected. Focusing on onl...