Russia Resurgent: The Implications for New Zealand

Abstract

Russia is a major power that is seeking to assert its international influence, and in so doing is creating significant challenges for Western states. Although Russia is not a priority focus of New Zealand foreign policy, its actions are increasingly significant for small states such as New Zealand in adjusting to a new security environment. Russia is also an Asia-Pacific state, and is aiming to become more engaged in the Asia-Pacific region—through increased trade, developing bilateral relationships, and involvement in regional integration projects. This extends even to the South Pacific, where Russia is attempting to follow China’s lead in developing its own bilateral relationships with states such as Fiji, including, controversially, supplying it with a shipment of military weapons nominally for peacekeeping. As one of the original parties to the Antarctic Treaty system, Russia is also significant for New Zealand in pursuing its objectives in Antarctica, as shown by the protracted negotiations over the Ross Sea Marine Protected Area. This chapter argues that Russia is an important international actor that New Zealand needs to engage with and to take into account in pursuing its interests, both in the Asia-Pacific and globally. However, New Zealand’s relations with Russia are shaped by the wider developments in the international system and Russia’s role within it, and as a liberal democratic state committed to a rules-based international system, New Zealand’s policy options are constrained.