Papua New Guinea
Intro
PNG’s mountainous interior and dispersed islands complicate service delivery and logistics. Resource projects create growth spikes but expose fiscal volatility. Strategic ties expand with Australia, the US, and Japan, while proximity to Indonesia and the Solomon arc links it to wider Indo-Pacific politics.
Background
Since independence in 1975, governance capacity has improved unevenly. Customary land tenure and local politics shape investment timelines. Human development indicators trail regional peers despite resource wealth.
History
Present Day
Future Outlook
If project execution and revenue management improve, PNG can lift trend growth and social outcomes. Risks include commodity downcycles, disaster exposure, and governance bottlenecks.
Map
Topics
Persons
Oleksandr Syrskyi
Hossein Amir-Abdollahian
Ismail Haniyeh
Scott Bessent
Nicolás Maduro
Alexander Dugin
Reza Pahlavi
Hossein Salami
Mohammad Bagheri
Locations
Central Desert Basin
Central Europe
Chasiv Yar
Cherkasy Oblast
Chernihiv Oblast
Chernivtsi Oblast
Colorado
Connecticut
Crimea (Autonomous Republic)
Dasht-e Kavir
Articles
Control is good, trust is better!
It is almost 2025. There is social unrest. A migration crisis? Foreign influences? A retreat to the national is taking . Border controls are being deployed again. People want to be “in control” again. Will this bring back confidence?
Event Timeline
Israeli Strikes in Tehran Killing Larijani
On the night of 16-17 March 2026, Israeli airstrikes in the Tehran area killed Ali Larijani (Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council and de facto leader) and Gholamreza Soleimani (commander of Iran’s internal Basij militia).
Nationalisation of Iranian Oil and the Mossadegh Crisis
From 1951 to 1953, Iran nationalized its oil industry under Prime Minister Mossadegh, leading to an international crisis and the eventual 1953 coup.
Iran Hostage Crisis
In 1979, Iranian students seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days and transforming U.S.-Iran relations.
Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (Taiping Rebellion)
The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was a large-scale civil war and rival state that challenged Qing rule, resulting in one of the deadliest conflicts in human history and severely weakening imperial authority.
Proclamation of the People’s Republic of China
On 1 October 1949, Mao Zedong proclaimed the People’s Republic of China in Beijing, marking the establishment of Communist rule on the mainland after civil war victory.
First Five-Year Plan and Socialist Transformation
Between 1953 and 1957, China implemented its First Five-Year Plan, restructuring land, industry, and finance along socialist lines and establishing centralized economic planning.
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward was a nationwide campaign aimed at rapidly industrializing China through mass mobilization and rural collectivization, resulting in severe economic disruption and widespread famine.
Xinhai Revolution
The Xinhai Revolution overthrew the Qing Dynasty and ended over two millennia of imperial rule, leading to the establishment of the Republic of China.