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Meeting New Zealand’s Peace and Security Challenges Through Disarmament and Nonviolence

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Small States and the Changing Global Order

Part of the book series: The World of Small States ((WSS,volume 6))

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Abstract

This chapter discusses the proposition that Aotearoa New Zealand’s security needs and international obligations towards maintaining global peace do not necessarily require the maintenance of military capabilities. In fact, there are a great many benefits to be gained through unilateral disarmament and the adoption of nonviolent “social defence” for domestic security, and unarmed peace forces for international peace support operations. Moreover, we argue that dissolving Aotearoa New Zealand’s military capabilities is both practical and realistic, and there are several relevant bodies of literature which could guide policymakers in the undertaking of such a major reform. In short, based on a growing and sophisticated literature on the relevance of pacifism and nonviolence for international relations and politics, the chapter attempts to problematize Aotearoa New Zealand’s current approach to security and open up discussion on potentially more effective and more ethical alternatives to the continuation of militarism. The chapter concludes with a discussion of other small states that have chosen to abolish their militaries, and the positive consequences that resulted.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Howes (2009), Cady (2010), Chenoweth and Stephan (2011), Atack (2012), Holmes (2017), May (2015), Vinthagen (2015), Wallace (2016), Jackson (2017a), pp. 160–175; Richard Jackson, “Pacifism and the Ethical Imagination in IR,” International Politics (December 2017), First Online: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41311-017-0137-6; Jackson (2017b), pp. 357–369; Jackson (2017c), pp. 1–16.

  2. 2.

    Ministry of Defence (2018a), p. 81, http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/downloads/pdf/public-docs/2016/defence-white-paper-2016.pdf; New Zeland Defence Force (2015), p. 10, http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/downloads/pdf/public-docs/nzdf_soi_2015.pdf.

  3. 3.

    NZDF (2015), p. 10.

  4. 4.

    Ministry of Defence (2018a), pp. 37–44.

  5. 5.

    NZDF (2015), p. 6, emphasis added.

  6. 6.

    NZDF (2015), p. 10.

  7. 7.

    New Zealand Treasury (2017), p. 44, https://treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-05/est17-v4-deffor.pdf.

  8. 8.

    “Equipment and Technology”, Defence Careers, accessed 3 May 2018, https://www.defencecareers.mil.nz/army/lifestyle-salary/equipment-and-technology.

  9. 9.

    B.K. Greener, “Peacekeeping Contributor Profile: New Zealand,” Providing for Peacekeeping, accessed 2 November 2017, http://www.providingforpeacekeeping.org/2014/04/03/contributor-profile-new-zealand.

  10. 10.

    Julian and Schweitzer (2015), pp. 1–8; Wallace (2016); Jackson, “Pacifism and the Ethical Imagination”; Jackson (2017c).

  11. 11.

    Hager (2011).

  12. 12.

    Hager and Stephenson (2017).

  13. 13.

    Hager and Stephenson (2017).

  14. 14.

    PSR (Physicians for Social Responsibility) (2015), https://www.psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/body-count.pdf.

  15. 15.

    Jackson (2017b).

  16. 16.

    Hager and Stephenson (2017).

  17. 17.

    Howes (2013), pp. 427–446.

  18. 18.

    Sharp (1973, 2011).

  19. 19.

    Helvey (2004).

  20. 20.

    Chenoweth and Stephan (2011).

  21. 21.

    Toerell (2010), Ulfelder (2005), pp. 311–334; Karatnycky and Ackerman (2005), Chenoweth and Stephan (2011), Celestino and Gleditsch (2013), pp. 385–400.

  22. 22.

    Chenoweth and Stephan (2011).

  23. 23.

    Howes (2013).

  24. 24.

    Ministry of Defence (2014), p. 25, https://www.defence.govt.nz/assets/Uploads/defence-assessment-2014-public.pdf.

  25. 25.

    Ministry of Defence (2018b), http://www.nzdf.mil.nz/downloads/pdf/public-docs/2018/strategic-defence-policy-statement-2018.pdf.

  26. 26.

    Ministry of Defence (2014), p. 25; Also see Ministry of Defence (2018b).

  27. 27.

    Ministry of Defence (2018b), p. 18.

  28. 28.

    Security and Intelligence Group (2015), pp. 6–7, https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-03/nz-cyber-security-cybercrime-plan-december-2015.pdf.

  29. 29.

    Ministry of Defence (2014), p. 25; Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2017), p. 14, https://www.dpmc.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-12/bim-cyber-security-policy-oct-2017.pdf.

  30. 30.

    Ministry of Defence (2014), p. 25; Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2017), p. 14; Ministry of Defence (2018b).

  31. 31.

    Ministry of Defence (2014), p. 25; Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2017), p. 14; Ministry of Defence (2018b).

  32. 32.

    Dugan and Chenoweth (2012), pp. 597–624; Argomaniz and Vidal-Diez (2014), and Jones and Libicki (2008).

  33. 33.

    Jones and Libicki (2008); see also Goerzig (2010).

  34. 34.

    Ivan Eland, “Does U.S. Intervention Overseas Breed Terrorism? The Historical Record,” CATO Institute Foreign Policy Briefing, no. 50 (December 1998), https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/fpb50.pdf; Pape (2006).

  35. 35.

    Burrowes (1996).

  36. 36.

    Sharp (1985, 1990).

  37. 37.

    Bartkowski (2015), https://advanced.jhu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/GOV1501_WhitePaper_Bartkowski.pdf; Miniotaite (1996), pp. 19–36; Burrowes (1996), Martin (1993), Salmon (1988), pp. 69–80; Sharp (1985, 1990), and Boserup and Mack (1974).

  38. 38.

    Lithuanian Ministry of National Defence (2014), https://kam.lt/en/news_1098/current_issues/ministry_of_national_defence_issued_third_publication_on_civil_resistance.html.

  39. 39.

    As alluded to in Bartkowski (2015).

  40. 40.

    Governmant Communications Bureau & New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (2017), https://www.beehive.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2017-12/GCSB%20and%20NZSIS_0.PDF.

  41. 41.

    “Defence and Peacekeeping Policy,” Green Party of Aotearoa, accessed 10 May 2018, https://www.greens.org.nz/page/defence-and-peacekeeping-policy.

  42. 42.

    David Capie, “Peace keeping: New Zealand’s Involvement in Peacekeeping,” Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand, accessed 3 November 2017, https://teara.govt.nz/en/peacekeeping/page-1.

  43. 43.

    Audrey Young, “NZ has Avoided United Nations Peacekeeping Missions Because of Safety Concerns: McCully,” NZ Herald, https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11832306.

  44. 44.

    Hager and Stephenson (2017).

  45. 45.

    Capie, “Peacekeeping: New Zealand’s Involvement in Peacekeeping.”

  46. 46.

    Capie, “Peacekeeping: New Zealand’s Involvement in Peacekeeping.”

  47. 47.

    “Report of the Panel on United Nations Peace Operations,” United Nations, last accessed 16 January 2012, http://www.un.org/peace/reports/peace_operations/docs/part2.htm, cited in Capie, “Peacekeeping: New Zealand’s Involvement in Peacekeeping.”

  48. 48.

    Greener, “Peacekeeping Contributor Profile: New Zealand.”

  49. 49.

    Capie, “Peacekeeping: New Zealand’s Involvement in Peacekeeping.”

  50. 50.

    Greener, “Peacekeeping Contributor Profile: New Zealand.”

  51. 51.

    Audrey Young, “NZ has Avoided United Nations Peacekeeping Missions.”

  52. 52.

    Bercovitch and Jackson (2009).

  53. 53.

    See Jackson (2017c) for a more detailed critique of current peacebuilding efforts.

  54. 54.

    Furnari et al. (2015), pp. 297–313.

  55. 55.

    Julian and Schweitzer (2015).

  56. 56.

    Wallace (2016).

  57. 57.

    Schweitzer (2010), pp. 7–16.

  58. 58.

    Julian and Schweitzer (2015), p. 1.

  59. 59.

    Julian and Schweitzer (2015), p. 4.

  60. 60.

    Kara Beckman and Kenneth B. Solberg, “Measuring the Impact of Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping: A Pilot Study” (unpublished report, November 2013), http://www.nonviolentpeaceforce.org/about-3/about-10.

  61. 61.

    Julian and Schweitzer (2015).

  62. 62.

    Rachel Julian and Ellen Furnari, “Comparative Study of Unarmed Civilian Peacekeeping: Contexts, Processes and Impacts” (conference paper, 2014), https://www.academia.edu/9633407/Comparative_analysis_Unarmed_Civilian_Peacekeeping%3E.

  63. 63.

    Belinda Goldsmith, “Just 10 Percent of World Military Spending Could Knock Off Poverty: Think Tank,” Reuters, 5 April 2016, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-military-goals/just-10-percent-of-world-military-spending-could-knock-off-poverty-think-tank-idUSKCN0X12EQ.

  64. 64.

    A. Martinez Casares and J. Guyler Delva, “Haitian Army Set to Make Controversial Return after Two Decades,” Reuters, 19 November 2017, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-haiti-military/haitian-army-set-to-make-controversial-return-after-two-decades-idUSKBN1DJ01M; J. Guyler Delva, “Haiti Installs New High Command for Planned 5,000-Strong Army,” Reuters, 29 March 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-haiti-military/haiti-installs-new-high-command-for-planned-5000-strong-army-idUSKBN1H40CV.

  65. 65.

    Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee, Inquiry into New Zealand’s Relationship with South Pacific Countries, 49th Parliament (10 December 2010), https://www.parliament.nz/resource/en-nz/49DBSCH_SCR4945_1/a1e8715f6c270cf5ff075f2d42f4e19f92aef10d.

  66. 66.

    Jason Hickel, “Want to Avert the Apocalypse? Take lessons from Costa Rica,” The Guardian, 7 October 2017, https://www.theguardian.com/working-in-development/2017/oct/07/how-to-avert-the-apocalypse-take-lessons-from-costa-rica.

  67. 67.

    Hickel, “Want to Avert the Apocalypse?,” emphasis added.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Joseph Llewellyn & Griffin Leonard

  2. The National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Richard Jackson

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  1. Joseph Llewellyn
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  2. Griffin Leonard
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  3. Richard Jackson
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Correspondence to Richard Jackson .

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  1. Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Anne-Marie Brady

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Llewellyn, J., Leonard, G., Jackson, R. (2019). Meeting New Zealand’s Peace and Security Challenges Through Disarmament and Nonviolence. In: Brady, AM. (eds) Small States and the Changing Global Order. The World of Small States, vol 6. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18803-0_20

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