Międzynarodowa pozycja Nowej Zelandii jako mocarstwa regionalnego

Abstract

Located in the South Pacific, for many years New Zealand has been an important part of a great power concert taking place within the region. The post- 1945 process which had given independence and the right to self-government to various states and territories formerly administered by the great powers, allowed them to shape their external relations with other states autonomously, and thus rendered the position of formal dominance previously held by the great powers obsolete. This included also New Zealand whose international position at that time was highly conditioned by trusteeship responsibilities performed pursuant to a UN mandate. Combining David A. Baldwin’s contextual approach to power analysis with Ray S. Cline’s resource-based power model, the author examines the presentday distribution of military and socio-economic potential within the South Pacific region and depicts the unilateral exercise of local preponderance by the Wellington government conducted in the last 10 years. He reaches a conclusion that, stemming either from individual actions conducive to an efficient exploitation of the social potential, or a close cooperative relationship with Australia, which gives rise to an asymmetrical great-power military tandem, in which the Wellington side plays a complementary role, New Zealand currently holds a position of a regional military and social power, whereas its capabilities predestine it obtain a similar status also with respect to economic matters.