Brian Walsh
Abstract: After World War Two the US formed a number of alliances to help contain communism around the world. One of these alliances was ANZUS, an agreement between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States to preserve security in the South Pacific. When New Zealand passed a law prohibiting port calls for all nuclear ships, this alliance unraveled. New Zealand was simply acting upon their own domestic interests, but because they conflicted with the US’s foreign interests and the US decided to maintain an inflexible position, problems emerged with US-NZ relations, and ANZUS as a whole. This inflexible position came from the Reagan administration wanting to assert authority over America’s allies, and not tolerate any dissent in the field of security. The article argues that Reagan’s tough stance hurt American-New Zealand relations, threatened security in the South Pacific, and damaged America’s credibility. The article then concludes by offering what could have been a possible alternative option of being less confrontational with NZ. If Reagan just publicly denounced New Zealand’s law, but still abided by it, he could have waited until it was repealed and avoided the negative publicity.
Key Words: ANZUS, New Zealand, Reagan Administration, South Pacific
You must be logged in to post a comment.