Small Can Be Huge: New Zealand Foreign Policy in an Era of Global Uncertainty

Abstract

New Zealand, like many small states, is at a pivotal moment as it responds to a complex new security environment. A series of events is putting massive pressure on the international order. To name just a few: Russia’s aggression in Crimea and new naval doctrine, China’s intransigence over South China Sea territorial disputes and emerging maritime strategy, the disruptive effect of President Trump’s iconoclastic foreign policy that is alienating allies as well as exacerbating the domestic political divide, the impact of Brexit on the economy and politics of both the UK and the EU, the spread of radical terrorist acts on a global scale, the refugee crisis, and the effects of climate change. Adding to this is the rising isolationist sentiment in many states. Small states are on the front lines of all these events, which are bringing about major shifts in the formerly stable post-WWII international order.