New Zealand has been painted as a nation of dreaming, preachy liberals, so busy resting on the moral laurels of its anachronistic nuclear-free policy that it has effectively opted out of playing any part in the real world.
An international panel of media and academic security experts passed their judgment
on New Zealand yesterday, after speaking on their area of expertise at an Asia New Zealand Foundation Conference on international security in Wellington.
Professor Raja Mohan from Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi said coming to New Zealand reminded him of India 25 years ago, "consigned to irrelevance".
"The danger of liberalism is to opt out and say 'we are the good guys, everyone else can go to hell'. But that is not an option at the moment."
He said New Zealand had to stay engaged in international trade and security and "avoid preachiness".
"Sometimes liberals can get preachy. The last time the Prime Minister [Helen Clark] came to India she got in trouble because of it. Even when you have a set of beliefs, don't impress them on others."
He said New Zealand could turn it into a strength by exploiting the differences between itself and others.
"Australia is seen as rough and tough, somewhat hard and muscular. New Zealand is genteel and intellectual. There is no oversupply of Good Samaritans, so play the Good Samaritan role."
Geoffrey Barker, foreign affairs columnist for the Australian Financial Review, said New Zealand's contribution would always be limited by its size but it had retracted further than this.
"The idea New Zealand has just got away with being a nice friendly island at the end of the world is just a recipe for irrelevance. You have to decide who you are and either put up or shut up.
"Because New Zealand has embraced the nuclear-free path and minimal defence spending, it has basically said it would rather shut up than put up."
But what some saw as weaknesses, others said were New Zealand's greatest strength.
Dr Lho Kyonsoo of Seoul University said New Zealand did not "raise hackles in any capital around the world".
"New Zealand has special access others may not have. They are not seen as threatening, therefore as diplomats and envoys they have a very special niche that others cannot occupy.
"Quiet diplomacy could be a special role for New Zealand."
