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This speech is kind of incredible. The early summary of it from Stuff did not quite do it justice. Like New Zealand itself, the speech is a hybrid of cosmopolitan progressivism and neoliberalism, yet also uniquely post-colonial in its aspirations https://www.beehive.govt.nz/speech/inaugural-foreign-policy-speech-diplomatic-corps
The question: Does this change NZ’s implicit theory of security? No, not directly, but it’s post-colonial markers open space for a uniquely progressive foreign policy project here in NZ
There is a material commitment to economic equality and inclusion here alongside a recognised need for a stable order. If that goes beyond rhetoric, it could be a new path of using public policy to offset risks in national security
The problems w the speech are what you might expect: pointing to dependence on Australia w out mentioning their economic plight w China; depending on trade w a regime committing genocide in real-time; counting on US as security partner in an era of new unreliability
If you ask the question “What does this mean for foreign policy?” It’s not yet evident there will be any adaptations even though the security environment is changing rapidly. There’s a way in which the short term wagers are based on old/wrong assumptions
But I see in the speech something distinctly Kiwi that I just don’t see in the foreign policy outlooks of other nations. There are elements that almost live up to the anti-colonial promise of the Non-Aligned Movement and ASEAN
