In Defence of New Zealand

Nuclear-free zones, neutrality, and nonalignment are catchwords that recently have earned unprecedented international publicity for New Zealand's foreign policy. That country's defence policy has also been subjected to its most searching scrutiny since World War II. In this book, Dr. Ramesh Thakur addresses in depth the issues underlying worldwide interest in the area and places his study of New Zealand policy in the global nuclear context. The ANZUS alliance and the 1951 treaty that created it are attended by a range of collaborative activities in defence, intelligence, naval exercises, and C3I facilities. Dr. Thakur weighs the values and opportunity costs of ANZUS for New Zealand's pursuing a nonaligned or neutral policy and analyses the 1985 establishment of a nuclear-free zone for the South Pacific in light of similar precedents elsewhere. Dr. Thakur concludes that rather than indicating a radically new course, a thorough review of New Zealand's defence and foreign policies may well provide renewed justification for existing alliance structures.