New Zealand has nothing to gain by publicly demonising the US – Editorial
There have been increasingly louder calls from political figures and social commentators for New Zealand to boycott or even ostracise the United States.
The All Blacks shouldn’t play the Springboks in Baltimore, argue some.
Kiwis should avoid travelling to Los Angeles for a family holiday, others say.
We should cut ties with the US and American people completely, the more radical have uttered.
These comments stem from opposition to the policies of the current White House administration and actions of the sitting President.
Much of this criticism is warranted.
American foreign policy influences how we as New Zealanders view and conduct ourselves in the world. So, we should continue to have independent views on what the US does, particularly in our corner of the South Pacific.
International scrutiny should also apply to US domestic decisions, such as the use of ICE agents to enforce immigration policy, which have seen two people shot dead in Minnesota in recent weeks.
Last week, the Herald on Sunday criticised Donald Trump’s comments about Afghanistan veterans, labelling them disgraceful. Trump’s words were rightly ridiculed by world leaders, most of whom would consider themselves friends of the US.
There is little doubt the current White House administration’s actions have strained these alliances and have treated their friends poorly. Some Americans, however, would also argue those partnerships have been taken for granted and for far too long.
In today’s Herald on Sunday, former US Secretary of State John Kerry also writes in a column that we’ll miss such alliances when they’re gone.
He is writing from an American perspective, but the same is true from our view in New Zealand.
Let us both not burn these important connections out of spite.
After all, administrations change, and so do its politicians and policies.
This week, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said New Zealand would not be joining Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza “in its current form”.
Further, no doubt carefully worded, diplomatic statements were given by Luxon and Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who acknowledged the US’ leadership in the region. There is, of course, nothing for New Zealand to gain by admonishing Trump’s idea.
We have been lucky enough to have lived in a post-Cold War world where there was just one true superpower.
We have done well in New Zealand during this relative time of peace and to ignore the security benefits the US has provided global trade would be ignorant.
But the age of Pax Americana is now over. And with it the rules-based order that accompanied it, first established after World War II.
We appear to be returning to a type of era that fills most history books. A struggle between competing nations for power.
Is America the perfect friend? Of course not. But no perfect country exists. And there are much worse friends to keep.