Bougainville: The world’s next country?

Out in the Pacific Ocean lies Bougainville, a part of Papua New Guinea. It’s been called a treasure island for holding one of the world’s biggest mother lodes of copper and gold. But the last Western corporation to extract that treasure didn’t share the wealth — and got run off by locals, at first armed with bows and arrows, and later, machine guns. This anti-corporate rebellion has ended. Bougainville now seeks independence — and an alliance with the United States. The World’s Patrick Winn brings us the first of a three-part series on Bougainville, potentially the world’s next country.