What could follow Bougainville's exit - and why Papua New Guinea struggles to let go

Analysis - Papua New Guinea's hesitation over Bougainville is not simply political delay or bureaucratic caution. It is rooted in something deeper: anxiety about identity, cohesion, and the survival of a post-colonial state that was never culturally uniform to begin with. PNG was assembled at independence in 1975 from hundreds of distinct linguistic and cultural groups. Its unity has always been negotiated, not natural. Bougainville, with its distinct history, geography, and political consciousn