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'Friend To One, Enemy To Many?': The Time Of Foreign Policy Struggle In Papua New Guinea Under The Bill Skate Government, Kazuhiro Monden

Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts - Papers (Archive)

Since independence in 1975 Papua New Guinea (PNG) has adopted as its fundamental foreign policy position the principle that the country is 'friends to all and enemies to none.' When PNG foreign policy shifts from this principle the realist foundations of the Country's international relationships are challenged. Under the administration of Bill Skate from 1997-1999 such a shift came close to being realized as Papua New Guinean political players used foreign policy and diplomatic interests to justify or extend their domestic political and electoral interests.

This paper focuses on diplomatic events in PNG at the end of Bill Skate's Government, …