New Zealand and
East Asia's Security Future


This report explores the place of East Asia in the evolution of New Zealand’s security and defence policies over the past 15 years, with a particular focus on current settings.

While a preoccupation with security issues in the region helped cement New Zealand’s Asian engagementin the first half of the Cold War period,economic considerations have been uppermost in Wellington’s relations with Asia in more recent decades. This is completely understandable given the relative stability that much of the region has come to enjoy, New Zealand’s relative isolation from any remaining security hotspots in Asia, and the dynamism of so many of Asia’s economies, which has helped underpin New Zealand’s prosperity.

Author: Robert Ayson