The Role of Non-state Actors in the Peace Process: The Bougainville Case

Abstract

The conflict on the island of Bougainville in Papua New Guinea was easily the worst tragedy to befall the South West Pacific since World War II. Between ten and fifteen thousand lives were lost, many others traumatised and uprooted, and the territory's social and economic structure devastated. A peace process under way since 1997 has made tangible progress, but many years of physical repair, social reconstruction, and psychological healing are needed before Bougainville can consign its tragedies to the past. After outlining the conflict's causes, the paper will address the reasons for its prolonged stalemate and resistance to settlement. The peace process is evaluated, with the identities and functions of the non-state actors most immediately involved explained. Bougainville's distinctive ethnic configuration within a Melanesian setting, where lines of state responsibility do not accord with social identities, is addressed. Given the legitimacy and sovereignty considerations raised by non-state actor involvement within internal conflict settlement processes, a delicate balance of constraints and possibilities faced New Zealand's third party mediation role. That role is evaluated in a setting where the individual and group aspirations of the non-state actors most directly involved facilitated, yet also obstructed moves towards a negotiated settlement and its planned implementation.