Guest Editorial - Question is: Where to from here?

As I shared in the Anzac ceremonies, I wondered what this all meant for today, our future, and our tradition of sacrifice.
Behind all the graphic and heart-wrenching stories of the front line, I wondered about the enormous collective effort that went into responding to a threat to the nation and its way of life; not only at the front line, but in all the support systems and in the work to keep the nation going. We accepted the leadership of politicians and military, and sacrificed much for a common goal to secure a future for succeeding generations.
It was not only our country; it was many countries of diverse backgrounds that co-operated for a common cause.
This international co-operation was based principally on the British Commonwealth, but has expanded enormously, and is now present on a global scale, demonstrated by the peacekeeping programs of the United Nations. New Zealand has often participated in such peacekeeping, which is part of the Anzac commemoration.
How do we see the threats to the nation today? It is tempting to focus on incipient military threat - a position quite justified considering the high level of global military expenditure. But there are fundamental contradictions in this view. First, the nation leading this military expenditure is one of our closest allies. Second, the rising power that would most conceivably provide a military threat is also the key to our economic future, and one with which we are increasingly engaged. The world is becoming so complex and interconnected that picking friends and enemies is increasingly futile.
We need to think beyond the military perspective to see how broad-based international co-operation and commercial exchange is changing the face of the world, and to consider what our most important threats are.
In Europe, the location of so much of the sacrifice we are commemorating, nations are sharing ever closer economic, political and social ties to the point that military conflict is now inconceivable. Elsewhere in the world, nations are also working together to promote prosperity and address poverty. Military conflicts themselves have changed dramatically, with civil wars far more prominent than international ones.
The far more pressing threats to our nation's future are of a very different nature, involving more social, economic and environmental issues. As Pogo said: "I have seen the enemy, and he is us."
We in New Zealand are part of a society which has developed a standard of life through exploitation of the earth's resources which is unsustainable in two ways. First, our standard of living threatens the viability of succeeding generations.
Second, the efforts of less developed nations to achieve our standards of living threatens the viability of our environment.
How do we now face these very different threats?
Some believe that technology will bring the required solutions, so a country like New Zealand can wait for those benefits to evolve.
Others are convinced that we need to fundamentally restructure our society and economy to be truly sustainable, and we need to do this within a decade or two to avoid almost certain catastrophe.
Whatever the solutions are, we need to develop a cohesive national strategy, one which is effectively led by our political and other expert leaders.
And we as a nation need to be prepared to make sacrifices for our future; sacrifices which may be very different to those that we are now commemorating, but may well be every bit as much a sacrifice. Moreover, we need a cohesive global strategy which brings together all nations to ensure that, together, we have a viable future.
We are incredibly fortunate we have the organisations that bring together experts and governments from virtually all nations to focus attention on many of the issues threatening our world. An enormous amount has been achieved in indicating what needs to be done.
What we are missing is the leadership and the preparedness to make the sacrifices for the future. While New Zealand cannot make the future alone, the future cannot be made by everyone waiting for the others.
Do we have the capabilities to live up to the challenge of Anzac, and our responsibility for succeeding generations?
Gray Southon is president of the Tauranga Branch of the United Nations Association.