In the years leading up to 1962, several Dutch, Papuan and Australian thinkers imagined a new political constellation for the Pacific: a Melanesian Union or Federation. This proposed bloc would have united Dutch New Guinea, Read more
Isaac Le Maire: entrepreneur, dissident, and pioneer explorer Isaac Le Maire (c. 1558–1624) was a Dutch merchant of Walloon origin, born in Tournai (now Belgium). After settling in the Dutch Republic, he became one of Read more
The transfer of Dutch New Guinea to Indonesian control in 1963 marked the abrupt end of one of the most promising experiments in decolonisation in the Pacific. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Read more