The resource curse has hit Papua New Guinea more than many other countries in the world. Massive mineral and energy wealth is largely squandered by a corrupt government and Western multinationals. It’s an issue I’ve investigated in my forthcoming book and documentary about disaster capitalism.
There’s a great website by Dr Kristian Lasslett that details “State Terror and the Bougainville Conflict“. This video explains the reasons locals rose up and successfully fought the rapacious mining company in the 1980s and 1990s. The legacy remains today, as I witnessed in Bougainville last year: