Jacinda Ardern — 9DASHLINE

New Zealand votes for change, but to what end?

Written by Lucas Knotter

Labour promised a lot of change but apparently did not feel it had to back such promises up with meaningful policy reform. It is implausible that New Zealand’s new conservative government will not fervently commit to such reforms.

Strategic competition in the South Pacific and its implications for New Zealand

Written by Dr Reuben Steff

While China’s activities are concerning, it should be made clear to Beijing that NZ’s and others’ responses in the security sphere are dependent on China’s approach to the region.

New Zealand-China relations under Prime Minister Hipkins: Changes on the horizon?

Written by Kina Kunz

If the current trend continues, we may be witnessing New Zealand in the process of edging away from its hedging position and instead committing to the US bloc in this ‘new Cold War’.

Pacific9DLMay 3, 20239dashline, Kina Kunz, New Zealand-China relations under Prime Minister Hipkins: Changes on the horizon?, Chris Hipkins, New Zealand, foreign policy, domestic issues, Jacinda Ardern, NZ Labour Party, China, New Zealand-China, security policy, Australia, China Policy, Ardern administration, Hipkins administration, diplomatic dispute, Wellington, Morrison government, Nicholas Khoo, Annie-Marie Brady, Nanaia Mahuta, Aotearoa Foreign Minister, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, South China Sea, Taiwan Straits, Russia-Ukraine war, economic diversification, AUKUS, anti-nuclear stance, non-nuclear pillar, formal alliance, Asia-Pacific, Helen Clark, Pacific and Southeast Asian states, US-China rivalry, Māori, Treaty of Waitangi, Robert Patman, Indo-Pacific region, multilateral security arrangement, NATO, Asia Pacific Four, AP4, Andrew Little, defence portfolio, defence policy review, TikTok, security alignment, NZ

Reflecting on Ardern: Don't confuse going slow with no change

Written by Dr Lucas Knotter

Now that Ardern has been replaced by Chris Hipkins as Aotearoa prime minister, it is unclear whether New Zealand’s foreign policy will change substantially.

Power Politics9DLMarch 28, 20239DashLine, Lucas Knotter, Reflecting on Ardern: confusing slow with no change, New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, 2020 New Zealand parliamentary elections, Jacinda Ardern’s premiership, Aotearoa, Aotearoa politics, general election in October 2023, radical incrementalism, NZ Labour Party, February 2022 Parliament Lawn protest, COVID-19, COVID-19 restrictions, anti-government sentiment, right-wing MPs, female prime minister, feminism, sexism, misogyny, New Zealand National Party, water management centralisation, New Zealand's international status, small state, minor power, Nicholas Ross Smith, Aotearoa’s ‘soft power’, soft power, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Vogue, celebrity, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, New Zealand’s foreign policy, US, China, alignment, middle ground, Indo-Pacific, Aotearoa’s ‘constructive ambiguity’, interlocutor, Pacific Islands, indigenous foreign policy, Anna Powles, Solomons-China security agreement, Chris Hipkins, Managed Isolation and Quarantine, crime, inequality, wealth disparities, climate policy, Emissions Reduction Plan, National Adaptation Plan, Max Rashbrooke, Helen Clark, John Key, both-sidesing, Zero Carbon Act, United Kingdom, United Nations, Reflecting on Ardern: Don't confuse going slow with no change

2023: Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia — foreign policies between hegemons

With Australian elections ushering in a change of government and Aotearoa New Zealand’s planned parliamentary elections this year, 9DASHLINE sought the views of several experts on the state of both nations’ foreign and defence policies.

Pacific9DLJanuary 30, 20232023: Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia — foreign policies between hegemons, 9dashline, Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, New Zealand, China, United States, Australian elections, parliamentary elections, foreign and defence policies, geopolitics, NICHOLAS ROSS SMITH, Jacinda Ardern, trading partner, security relationship, middle-ground position, Wang Yi, NZ Labour Party, Wellington, National party, Christopher Luxon, putative Indo-Pacific ‘hedging’ strategy, MELISSA CONLEY TYLER, import restrictions, Prime Minister Albanese, President Xi, G20 Summit, China’s economic coercion, climate change policies, clean energy, Pacific Island countries, 2026 UN Conference of the Parties, JASON YOUNG, supply chain resilience, social cohesion, economic resilience, Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, Japan, United Kingdom, Partners in the Blue Pacific, President Biden, APEC Summit, China’s Covid restrictions, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, China’s activities in the South China Sea, liberal-democratic Western bloc, Moscow, Beijing, geopolitical shatterbelt, Taiwan, Canberra, Tokyo, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Nanaia Mahuta, Free Trade Agreements (FTA), European Union, trade diversification, anti-nuclear advocacy

Nguyen Phu Trong’s Beijing trip: Safeguarding regime-state security

Written by Phan Xuan Dung

As Vietnam’s most senior politician and the architect of the ‘bamboo diplomacy’ concept, Trong should promote efforts to update Vietnam’s strategic thinking, thereby enabling the country to bend and sway in the current geopolitical headwinds with greater flexibility.

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Tale of two summits: Why Jacinda Ardern said no to the Commonwealth, but yes to NATO

Written by Geoffrey Miller

And given the focus on Western unity and solidarity in recent months, there’s every chance Jacinda Ardern would travel together with Anthony Albanese on any European side-trip to Ukraine — on a joint ANZAC solidarity mission.

Pacific9DLJune 22, 2022Tale of two summits – Why Jacinda Ardern said no to the Commonwealth, but yes to NATO, 9DASHLINE, GEOFFREY MILLER, China, NATO, New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, Anthony Albanese, Australia, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Commonwealth, Kigali, Nato Summit, Nanaia Mahuta, Richard Marles, Rwanda, Freedom House, Russia, ANZAC, Ukraine, Paul Kagame, UK, Prince Charles, Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, HRW, Amnesty International, Māori, Commonwealth Games, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC, UN, Small Island Developing States, Commonwealth Litter Programme, Vanuatu, Canada, Global South, Global North, South Africa, Mozambique, Cold War, Japan, Pacific Islands Forum, AUKUS, United Kingdom, NATO Madrid Summit, South Korea, Stoltenberg, Brussels, Europe, EU, Volodymyr Zelensky, Kyiv, Boris Johnson, France, Macron, Germany, Olaf Scholz, Democracy Project

New Zealand’s strategy in the Pacific: Intentional and consistent

Written by Henrietta McNeill

New Zealand’s approach in the Pacific is intentionally predicated on having long-standing trusted relationships with the Pacific Islands region, emphasising Pacific agency rather than acting reactively and impulsively.

Charting Australia and New Zealand's responses to China

Written by Alan Tidwell

New Zealand signed a free trade agreement with the PRC in 2008 and finalised an upgrade in January 2021. Damien O’Connor, New Zealand’s trade minister, used the announcement of the upgrade to lecture the Australians on their need to be more mature and “show respect” to China.

Resounding win for Ardern, but uncertainty about progressive change remains

Written by Lucas Knotter

For the rest of the world, similarly, this means that they can expect much the same from New Zealand’s foreign policy, which continues to balance its relationship with China and its Pacific connections. In many respects, New Zealand will continue to be considered, and consider itself, as a force of progress and innocent whimsy in world politics.

Pacific9DLOctober 20, 2020New Zealand, China, Covid-19, Jacinda Ardern