Hillary Clinton has fallen silent on the TPP, an interesting departure from her statements as the nation's top diplomat.

It may not be making much news, but New Zealand's UN Security Council role is stretching the Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Trade.

Every political party laid claim to the moral high ground in the argument over sending a team of army training personnel to Iraq, John Armstrong writes.

The decision to commit NZ military contingent to Iraq is a case of misguided foreign policy.

So much for the catchphrase "Don't mention the war" - these days no leader in want of a free trade deal should let a historic war go to waste, writes Claire Trevett.

The domestic dimension of the response to Isis, which according to Key is a "game-changer for NZ", contained confusions of its own, writes Toby Manhire.

Isis is a nasty, brutish group that uses terror in parts of the globe, but it doesn't threaten the entire world. So Kiwis don't need to fight, says David Shearer.

If New Zealand becomes a member of the UN Security Council early tomorrow, hoping to get a pay-off for the hundreds of thousands of dollars in schmoozing we've done to get there, let us see how much of an independent voice we will retain.

The information just released suggesting William Sutch really was a KGB agent means I've personally known two potential spies during my sojourn in New Zealand.

The Labour Party came out of the weekend looking surprisingly smart, and still in the game, writes politics commentator Bryce Edwards.

This could be the Tweedledee and Tweedledum election, with Labour struggling to differentiate itself from National, writes Bryce Edwards.

Is New Zealand an independent global citizen, or a US ally in all but name? That's the big question after the PM's visit to the US, writes Bryce Edwards.

US Secretary of State John Kerry says he knows New Zealand stands with America on Iraq - and he doesn’t need to ask to know that.

The UN Security Council has not always adequately addressed some issues, says Foreign Minister Murray McCully, but it should be given time to show leadership over the Iraq crisis.

US Secretary of State John Kerry used a reception at the NZ embassy in Washington last night to pointedly promote US nuclear-powered warships as safe.

When someone pulls a rabbit out of a hat, it's natural to be suspicious. Magicians are professionals in deceit - and so are diplomats. But sometimes the rabbit is real.

The United States yesterday thanked New Zealand for its "strong and unambiguous stand" against the Bahsar al-Assad regime having used chemical weapons against the people of Syria.

The landmark conviction of former Guatemalan dictator General Efrain Rios Montt of genocide and crimes against humanity and United States backing for the scorched earth campaign, was a grim reminder of bloody footprints left by Washington.

When Prime Minister John Key lands in Mexico tomorrow it will have been more than a decade since the last New Zealand prime minister toured Latin America, and he concedes the region has been neglected in favour of Asian economies.

As John Key wraps up an important Burma visit, he talks to Herald Political Editor Audrey Young about what he's learned and seen.