Mostly New Zealand manages to stay off our ‘radar.’ It is far away, peaceful, a threat to virtually nobody, and a “big fish” only with respect to the various Polynesian island cultures. Otherwise, it is a pretty, pleasant place to vacation, which the DrsC have enjoyed twice.
Militarily, EnZed opted out of active cooperation with the U.S. thirty-five years ago, in 1984. A resident of the South Island told us disgustedly what passed for their Navy had exactly one small warship.
Today, the RNZN website says they’ve two frigates, plus five patrol boats which fulfill the coast guard enforcement and interdiction role. Allowing for one or more craft being in port for repair and refit, it is a sub-minimal force for a developed first world island nation.
Uniquely, the NZ Coast Guard is a voluntary, non-governmental organization devoted to life-saving much like search and rescue units in the States.
For a look at current NZ thinking about where they fit in the international puzzle of power politics, see a RealClearDefense article on their options. It questions whether being “too far away to bother with” will continue to work in a “China rising” world.
