New Zealand's Foreign Policy Under National and Labour Governments: Variations on the "Small State" Theme?

Abstract

S MALL STATES are alleged to have a distinct set of foreign policy characteristics, although the utility of the small state concept in international relations has been challenged.' If New Zealand's foreign policies have indeed been generally characteristic of those of small states, those policy characteristics have nevertheless been affected by the political colour of the government in power. Recent National and Labour governments have differed in the scope of their foreign policies; in the importance which they have given to cooperation with allies; in the degree to which their foreign policies have espoused moral causes, and in the extent to which economic interests have taken priority in their foreign policies. The two types of government have not differed much, however, in their participation in world affairs, or in their propensity to become involved in conflict with other powers. Although there is no generally accepted definition of a small state, a population size of under ten million has recently been proposed as the most important criterion.2 New Zealand, with a population of 3.4 million, would easily qualify under this definition, although it is not particularly small in either land area or in gross national product. There are five characteristics of small state foreign policy behaviour which are generally agreed upon and one which is controversial. The five agreed-upon characteristics were summarized recently as: a low level of participation in world affairs; a narrow foreign policy scope; an economic focus in foreign policy execution; an emphasis on internationalism, involving participation in international and regional organizations,