Papua New Guinea a Failed

¶ … Papua New Guinea a Failed State?

With Somalia pirates threatening the shipping lanes and genocide continuing in the Sudan, the issue of whether a country can be deemed a so-called "failed state" has been in the news a great deal in recent months. These countries and others such as Afghanistan are being routinely offered by pundits and analysts alike as examples of modern failed states. The characterization of a country as being a failed state carries some significant implications for it as well as the international community, since it involves potential military interventions by the latter on behalf of the citizens of the former. To determine whether Papua New Guinea has degenerated into a failed state or if the country is struggling or even prospering, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature concerning definitional criteria for failed states followed by an application of these criteria to Papua New Guinea. A summary of the research and important findings from this analysis are presented in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

While there is no universally accepted definition of a failed state, there are some scholarly and even legal definitions of what constitutes a state. For example, according to Black's Law Dictionary, a state is defined as "A people permanently occupying a fixed territory bound together by common law, habits, and custom into one body politic exercising through the medium of an organized government, independent sovereignty and control over all persons and things within its boundaries capable of making war and peace and of entering into international relations with other communities of the globe" (p. 1407). By contrast, at present, there remains a lack of a universal definition of a failed state. For instance, Chesterman, Ignatieff and Thakur emphasize that, "There is no agreement in the scholarly literature on the definition of a failed state" (2005, p. 15). This is an important issue because of the need to determine when a state actually "fails" in its fundamental responsibilities to its citizens in delivering the broad range of services and protections that are part of a viable state's definitional criteria so that appropriate responses by the international community can be formulated. In this regard, Thakur and Schnabel suggest that, "A consensus needs to be forged on the definition of a failed state and, closely related, on appropriate legal responses by the United Nations and other actors to assume the normal functions of a failed (or a failing) state" (p. 250). Some international analysts point to countries such as Somalia, Afghanistan and the Sudan as good examples of failed states in the 21st century (Soderberg 2006). Other authorities have offered their own versions of what constitutes of failed state. For instance, Chesterman et al. cite the following definitions of a failed state and those that are on the verge of failing:

1. A failed state means that the basic functions of the state are no longer performed.

2. A collapsing state is one that maintains few or no functioning state institutions, has lost its power to confer identity, can no longer assure security, and has lost its legitimacy (Chesterman et al. 2005, p. 15). The two former criteria can be assessed fairly easily by verifying their presence or absence, but evaluating the latter criterion is a bit more complicated. For example, according to Manwaring and Joes (2000), it is possible for collapsing states to regain some degree of legitimacy through peacekeeping operations conducted by the international community in general and the UN in particular, at least temporarily. "This may enable a failed state to exert its de jure legitimacy for a time," these authors add, but emphasize that, "[it] is only a very preliminary step in restoring deep legitimacy" (Manwaring & Joes 2000, p. 47). Another indicator of legitimacy is the extent to which a state has complied with conditions imposed by international organizations as part of financial and other developmental assistance. In this regard, Manwaring and Joes report that this type of legitimacy is restricted to international relations, but full legitimacy requires support from a state's constituents as well. In this regard, Manwaring and Joes note that, "The legitimacy gained by adherence to objectives agreed to by the international community may result in legitimacy at the international level but does little to restore the legitimacy of the failed state" (2000, p. 50). There is also a type of legitimacy that relates to its appropriateness or "rightness" based on national or humanitarian interests (Manwaring & Joes 2000).

3. State failure is equated with civil war, although state failure can take place without civil war and civil war can take place without state failure (Chesterman et al. 2005, p. 15).

Therefore, there are some established criteria by which states can be assessed to determine whether they are viable states, or if they are failing (collapsing) or have actually failed outright. These criteria are applied to Papua New Guinea's status within this continuum in Table 1 below and assigned a weight corresponding to the extent to which PNG satisfies the criterion to determine whether it can be viewed as a failed state by any of these definitions.

Note:

1

Completely failed state

2

Collapsing state

3

Struggling state

4

Potentially viable state

5

Completely viable state

Table 1

Application of Criteria for a Failed State to Papua New Guinea

Key

Criterion

Evaluation of PNG's Status

Wt

A

A failed state means that the basic functions of the state are no longer performed

The government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) continues to provide basic functions that have allowed the state to grow in recent years. The country has abundant natural resources but these remain largely undeveloped for natural and manmade reasons. The country's is relatively poor economically but hunger does not appear to be a problem. In fact, fully 85% of the population is engaged in agricultural enterprises, but there are thriving mineral-based and natural gas sectors in operation as well (Papua New Guinea 2011). There are also signs of substantial foreign direct investments in PNG's infrastructure, including the construction of a liquefied natural gas production facility scheduled for operation by 2014, promising to quickly double the country's GDP and triple its export revenues (Papua New Guinea 2011). The government continues to face a number of challenges, including the need for increased transparency for the increased revenues that are being generated by infrastructure development. Despite these challenges, there are clear signs that PNG's government is satisfying this criterion. Not only is the current prime minister the first to serve a complete 5-year term, American analysts emphasize that, "The government has brought stability to the national budget, largely through expenditure control; however, it relaxed spending constraints in 2006 and 2007 as elections approached. In recent years, the government has opened up markets in telecommunications and air transport, making both more affordable to the people" (Papua New Guinea 2011, p. 3).

4

B

Maintains few or no functioning state institutions

At present, the Papua New Guinea:

1. Maintains a full complement of state institutions, including an executive branch (current chief of state is Queen Elizabeth) represented by a governor with the government being headed by a prime minister; the executive branch also maintains a cabinet in the form of the National Executive Council (appointed by the governor general on the recommendation of the prime minister). There are also legislative and judicial branches in operation, and elections are held as required by law (Papua New Guinea 2011).

5

C

Has lost its power to confer identity

Papua New Guinea maintains full diplomatic presence in the U.S. capital in the form of Ambassador Evan Jeremy Paki (Papua New Guinea 2011).

5

D

Can no longer assure security

Papua New Guinea has significant problems with:

1. Providing physical security for foreign investors;

2. Regaining investor confidence;

3. Restoring integrity to state institutions;

4. Promoting economic efficiency by privatizing moribund state institutions; and,

5. Balancing relations with Australia, its former colonial ruler (Papua New Guinea 2011).

Other problems that could threaten the nation's internal security include:

1. An HIV / AIDS epidemic (with the highest infection rate in all of East Asia and the Pacific),

2. Chronic law and order issues; and,

3. Land tenure issues (Papua New Guinea 2011).

2

E

Has lost its legitimacy

One important indicator of the legitimacy of a state is formal diplomatic ties with the United States (Manwaring & Joes 2000). Currently, PNG has full diplomatic relations with the U.S. including the assignment of Ambassador Teddy B. Taylor (Papua New Guinea 2011). Another important indicator is membership in the United Nations, and PNG has been a member since October 1975 (UN 2011). In addition, PNG is a member of the following international organizations: ACP, ADB, AOSIS, APEC, ARF, ASEAN (observer), C, CP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, OPCW, PIF, Sparteca, SPC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO (Papua New Guinea 2011).

5

F

State failure is equated with civil war (but state failure can take place without civil war and civil war can take place without state failure).

Although it did not rise to the level of a full-blown civil war (only because it did not succeed any further), when U.S. analysts term "a nine-year secessionist revolt on the island of Bougainville" from 1988 to 1997 resulted in about 20,000 deaths (Papua New Guinea 2011). In addition, Ayson and Ball (2006) also emphasize that, "In Papua New Guinea, intergroup fighting in the oil and gas-rich Southern Highlands province continues; some paramilitary turmoil is in prospect; but the peace process in the Bougainville province has been successful so far" (p. 260).