The Sheep of the West

For a long time I’ve watched New Zealand governments – left and right – shape our foreign policy around our allies’ positions. We take our direction from the United States and other Five Eyes (an intelligence-sharing network) nations the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada.

Our positions often come without independent thought or enquiry or are not always reflective of the feeling of the New Zealand public, but its what our allies want so where do we sign. At the start of a second Donald Trump term, perhaps now is the time to scrutinise who we’re friends with and how we want to be seen on the global stage.

The inauguration was greeted in Europe (loosely, as Europe is a stage full of players) on the street and in headlines, as an aberration, a circus watched from afar that you wouldn’t want tickets for. There’s a lot of nervousness and pessimism with few believing a Trump presidency will bring any good for Europe. He’s already signaled tariffs are coming and demanded Europe spend more on defence or see the US  exit NATO. Let the games begin.

I think of my homeland and our relationship with our mightiest ally. I’ve always found our foreign policy as disjointed. We see ourselves as independent, globally-conscious people with a backbone, yet our government representatives market us as the opposite. We follow our allies blindly into policy positions of ethical and moral consequence and then the Prime Minister or Foreign Minister of the moment puts out a statement akin to ‘this is your leader and this is what we have decided’. The ‘we’ not being the Ministry or New Zealanders in any realm – but our allies with us in the corner taking notes. It makes me feel as though we’re the sheep of the West and it’s about time we reassess if, as a nation, we are satisfied with that as our image in the hallways of global power. 

A lot of people will say, ‘We’re small and need to protect our economy by not rocking the ship of global relations. That sea is stormy enough.’ In a second Trump era that makes us the fragile child hiding behind the big kids in the playground for fear of taking a stand. Keeping in mind one of those big kids is an unpredictable, convicted felon. 

I want to propose another approach to you. Take Norway – a country with the same population as New Zealand. Them at the very top of the world, us at the very bottom. For decades Norway has marketed itself as an independent, ethical, foreign policy solution-finder. It has projected itself into the middle of some of the world’s most complex conflicts and issues to look for common ground. They take bold stands on human rights, backing the International Criminal Court, creating the powerful Norwegian Refugee Council and hosting key negotiations such as the Oslo Accords between Israel and Palestine. I first met Norwegian diplomats during negotiations between the U.S. and Taliban in Qatar. They were always in the background – talking, networking, facilitating, unsticking sticky issues. The head Norwegian diplomat then had been in the proverbial room for years, building respect with and an understanding of power players across the region. That put the Norwegians in a unique position to have the relationships and trust to matter and be influential at a key moment in history. In December that same diplomat went to Kabul and met with the Taliban’s Deputy Foreign Minister. This month that Deputy Foreign Minister gave a rare public rebuke of Taliban policy, denouncing the group’s position on women and girls saying it’s against Islamic law, there’s no justification for it, and we are committing an injustice against half of our population. This type of diplomacy – working with amenable insiders to find common ground and opportunities for change – is the modus operandi of diplomacy.

A tweet of condemnation from MFAT is not.

There is no reason why New Zealand can’t position itself as Norway has. As a reporter working in a variety of countries and interviewing leaders of various persuasions, I have always felt a safety blanket in the New Zealand passport. We are universally respected, with sport typically as the icebreaker. The image others have of us is often that of open-minded, practical and gusty people. That is exactly the image we need to position ourselves as leaders on the global policy stage. We have plenty of senior influencers within the United Nations, business, media and humanitarian organisations. Kiwis are informed and in the building, just not in the room.

I want to qualify that there are times the costs can outweigh doing what’s right. Outing China on its horrific treatment of the Uyghurs (of which NZ’s position is ‘it’s a cause for concern’) could be considered a moment of picking your battles. When Australia attacked them unilaterally, they paid a crushing price in trade. There is a balance to be found between principled public positions and significant diplomatic and trade fallout. But that doesn’t mean that we should universally take the back seat. We can remove ourselves as the puppets of Five Eyes and make our own independent, ethically-driven decisions. We can transform ourselves from sheep to sheepdogs. And we have done it before, nearly 40 years ago. New Zealand’s Nuclear-Free Policy established us as a leader in nuclear disarmament (to this day) and was bold, resulting in a significant rift with the US. Yet still, New Zealanders are proud of that position. We stood up for what we believed in at a cost. We asserted our sovereignty and made a decision on our values, regardless of alliances.

In recent decades, we have rekindled our relationship with the US but it is no longer the shining beacon to the world it once was. It is time we backed ourselves, took inspiration from our past and other nations like Norway, and took our own positions on principle. If we want to be relevant and respected by friends and foes alike, we must project ourselves into the room on our own merits with what New Zealanders believe in and stand for. We have the character to be taken seriously in matters of global importance. Our people should know they come from a country that stands up for itself, for human rights, conflict resolution and the environment and works doggedly to find solutions, rather than one that tows the line.