NZ as a Responsible Global Citizen

New Zealand has long prided itself as a country with a strong internationalist outlook. In fact, every country has an internationalist outlook, and most countries instinctively believe their particular worldview is superior to all others. A deep cultural subjectivity drives the foreign policy of every country, generating frequent misunderstanding and mistrust, and occasional conflict.

In the past half-century and especially in recent decades, the international community has changed, with unprecedented global problems (nuclear weapons; natural resource depletion, bio-diversity extinction, climate change) confronting humankind. Yet every country at the UN continues to claim complete national sovereignty, each striving to ‘punch above our weight’.

Only when we identify global problems accurately, agree on global strategies to solve them, and implement legitimate national policies to attain the strategies, will humankind mature into a genuine global community. (For my 1999 book, ‘The Planetary Interest’, click here).

How is New Zealand to act as a truly responsible global citizen?

- By honouring our international obligations and never collaborating with those that do not.

- By promoting our nuclear-free policy consistently at the United Nations, and not just sitting on our laurels at home.

- By thinking of our children’s tomorrow and meeting our Kyoto targets today.

- By promoting fair trade and providing aid the way we promised we would four decades ago.

- By respecting all cultures and faiths around the world, offering a model at home.

For the Greens foreign policy manifesto, please click on the Green Party's website under the "Informative Websites" section to the right. In this blog, I shall be developing, over the next few weeks, some views on how New Zealand can be a responsible global citizen through acting consistently with international law.