The significance of Biden’s (almost) Papua New Guinea visit

Published at Griffith Asia Insights The late US Secretary of State George Shultz noted that “diplomatic visits are an important expression of presidential priorities.” Despite President Biden’s last-minute cancellation to Papua New Guinea (PNG), the significance of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s brief visit should not be overlooked, let alone the signing of the US-PNG Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) – an agreement that reflects not only a changing strategic atmosphere but PNG’s emergence, scale and its challenges and internal politics. Indeed, while working with Port Moresby’s National Capital District Commission in 2010, I recall the fanfare of then-US Secretary of […]

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