Aotearoa may be the edge of your fading 'Pax Americana', but for Kiwis it's the center of our world. Ideology is a funny thing, the world looks different depending on where you observe it from. Perhaps your consciousness hasn't quite caught up with the rest of you in moving to NZ. No one in their right mind thinks that China has a military interest in NZ beyond our role in projecting the power of the US empire into their Pacific backyard (the spy bases in Waihopai, Tangimoana etc).
We tend to do our best not to get drawn in to the US' craziness without provoking their anger, in that case the Yanks really could be coming. Have you seen the film 'Sleeping Dogs' (1977)? Sam Neill's first lead role I believe, as a guy just trying to keep to himself in the midst of a US occupation of NZ, triggered by a Maidan-esque false flag:
Cool, I didn't know about Sleeping Dogs! Will definitely check it out! Well said, sir: my geopolitical gringo soul hasn't caught up with my NZ body. Not sure where the center of my world is these dsys. The Chinese patrol made me realize this in a way I hadn't before. Yeah, they don't have much military reason to come, though they will certainly keep buying the lumber that rumbles past my house every day on Highway 2. I hope NZ can stay out of the craziness on both sides.
For NZ occupation stories, do you know New Hokkaido, by James McNaughton? Odd little novel imagining NZ if Japan had won the war. Worth a read! https://teherengawakapress.co.nz/new-hokkaido/
Thank you. Each of your pieces helps me grieve. That one line is so very poignant and absolutely resonates.
A couple of months ago I was seriously looking into moving back. Then I thought well, not sure, but I will at least visit again in July. Now I'm not even sure about that, with cuts to the FAA and measles outbreaks and all manner of craziness. Although maybe it's even more important to go this year, before it gets even worse?
Hi Jean! Lovely to see you here! I am in fact sitting down with a calendar to think about plane tickets to the US now. The craziness carries on. But there is so many folks to see, and food to eat, and long drives to take...Mabe the curse of our age is that we are never, ever apart from the headlines. Life abroad is even worse. Maybe I don't want 'here and there,' maybe I want 'just here' and 'just there' all at once. is that even possible?
Jet Li! Love it. Yes,I've lived all over and China's the only country with as large a self regard as the US...only two countries I've been that sincerely understand themselves to be the center of the world. Something in common, and by definition something absolutely NOT in common.
Five Eyes, who knows. Now there's talk of cutting the US out, after all the Russia stuff. All such pacts are going to be on the table in the years to come, I'm afraid!
Before I met my friend Greg (https://thepermafrostaussie.substack.com), Australia and New Zealand were hardly on my radar, I guess Substack knows that part of the world is on my radar, because your blog showed up on my feed. Sorry, guys, you aren't invisible any more, at least one American living in Russia knows about you :)
Thanks, Kaila! I don't know if Kiwis would see it that way (see Stephen's comment below.) But as NZ's largest trading partner they have immense sway here. Will be interesting to see how that all plays out going forward.
We've been in NZ five years now. I grew in Phoenix, lived all over but mostly in Texas since. We came down here from Shanghai in the pandemic and just...never left. Wrote that story for the blog. I know you've done your own crazy last-minute flights across the Pacific, you might dig it! https://www.american.nz/p/blame-it-on-baby-jet-lag
I'm a Belgian living in NZ and I would agree with you that for NZ China is the biggest threat. But maybe we see it differently because we've also seen different threats and seen things from a different angle. I'm not sure...
Hi Sophie! I agree, I think you do see it differently, for all kinds of reasons! I've lived abroad a bunch, and thought a lot of about cultural differences over the years. But until now I'd never much though about cultural differences in geopolitical threat/safety vibes. An American blindspot, I'm sure. Lots of safety to think about now, alas...
I can’t understand why anyone would be even vaguely upset or surprised about Chinese naval exercises in the South Pacific in light of this: “Aotearoa, together with Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer JS Sazanami (DD-113) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) destroyer HMAS Sydney (DDG-42) conducted a transit of the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 25 and took part in multinational drills in the South China Sea on Sept. 28.” (from your link)
Hi Stephen! Fair point. This is what navies do, right? China's never done this sort of show so far south before, and to do so without any warning is certainly a flex. But you're right that it's not particularly surprising. China's been clear about their ambitions in the Pacific for a long time.
Whether to be upset is another question! I think as an American I've been raised to be reflexively upset/wary/afraid when any superpower challenges my own, anywhere on Earth. In my experience Kiwis see and feel this stuff differently--a small country moving through global realpolitik in an entirely different way (and admirably willing to stand up to the US on nukes.) There's been the call for more defense spending, but nothing like the freakout there would have been in the US (remember the weather balloon a couple years ago? We went bonkers, and not entirely without reason.)
I guess what I'm saying is that to truly adopt your Kiwi ice-in-the-veins about Chinese naval patrols I'd have to...stop being American, at least from some big-picture safety/power mindset. That's the question on the table here, and now the safety is suddenly very much in question. Heavy stuff for a lost gringo. Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to write and press the issue!
New Zeland and Australia would be wise to collaborate on a fast-tracked nuclear weapons program. As should Japan, South Korea, Germany, Canada, and Poland.
Hi Tom! Thanks for reading! A nonstarter here, for better or worse. NZ is proudly a 'nuclear free-zone,' and even kicked out US nuclear subs back in the 80s. The policy has remained untouched by left and right govts for forty years. Would be a huge lift to even begin the conversation, much less build the damn things!
I suppose there is merit in the argument that New Zealand and Australia should follow the North Korean strategy to prevent the psychopathic megalomaniacs in DC from “bombing us back to the Stone Age”, but as Dan says this is a non-starter in Aotearoa since being anti-nuclear is a core part of the national identity. Maybe a better strategy would be to threaten a ban on sales of New Zealand wine to the US, seeing as many of the American oligarchs seem to be addicted to it.
I can’t feel what you’re feeling but I know how I’m feeling and I remember the way we felt during the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. Doesn’t seem so long ago any more.
Hi Anna! Thanks for your note. It doesn't feel so long ago, does it? I'm a late Gen X kid, old enough to remember the Cold War but mostly steeped in the End of History 90s. I am constantly, embarassingly shocked at how much HISTORY is happening these days. And exhausted. And nervous indeed.
I love your substack. Beautifully written. I think, for me, the experience of being an American is the excruciating shift from being wary of external forces to fearful of my own countrymen. Things are moving quickly here.
Aotearoa may be the edge of your fading 'Pax Americana', but for Kiwis it's the center of our world. Ideology is a funny thing, the world looks different depending on where you observe it from. Perhaps your consciousness hasn't quite caught up with the rest of you in moving to NZ. No one in their right mind thinks that China has a military interest in NZ beyond our role in projecting the power of the US empire into their Pacific backyard (the spy bases in Waihopai, Tangimoana etc).
We tend to do our best not to get drawn in to the US' craziness without provoking their anger, in that case the Yanks really could be coming. Have you seen the film 'Sleeping Dogs' (1977)? Sam Neill's first lead role I believe, as a guy just trying to keep to himself in the midst of a US occupation of NZ, triggered by a Maidan-esque false flag:
https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/sleeping-dogs
Cool, I didn't know about Sleeping Dogs! Will definitely check it out! Well said, sir: my geopolitical gringo soul hasn't caught up with my NZ body. Not sure where the center of my world is these dsys. The Chinese patrol made me realize this in a way I hadn't before. Yeah, they don't have much military reason to come, though they will certainly keep buying the lumber that rumbles past my house every day on Highway 2. I hope NZ can stay out of the craziness on both sides.
For NZ occupation stories, do you know New Hokkaido, by James McNaughton? Odd little novel imagining NZ if Japan had won the war. Worth a read! https://teherengawakapress.co.nz/new-hokkaido/
"I want a life both here and there."
Thank you. Each of your pieces helps me grieve. That one line is so very poignant and absolutely resonates.
A couple of months ago I was seriously looking into moving back. Then I thought well, not sure, but I will at least visit again in July. Now I'm not even sure about that, with cuts to the FAA and measles outbreaks and all manner of craziness. Although maybe it's even more important to go this year, before it gets even worse?
I want a life both here and there.
Hi Jean! Lovely to see you here! I am in fact sitting down with a calendar to think about plane tickets to the US now. The craziness carries on. But there is so many folks to see, and food to eat, and long drives to take...Mabe the curse of our age is that we are never, ever apart from the headlines. Life abroad is even worse. Maybe I don't want 'here and there,' maybe I want 'just here' and 'just there' all at once. is that even possible?
You've got about 250,000 Chinese living in NZ and strained relations in the Five Eyes.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/28/new-zealands-five-eyes-membership-called-into-question-over-china-links
China despises the Commonwealth but considers the US a peer country, and if you don't believe me watch Jet Li's Fearless.
Jet Li! Love it. Yes,I've lived all over and China's the only country with as large a self regard as the US...only two countries I've been that sincerely understand themselves to be the center of the world. Something in common, and by definition something absolutely NOT in common.
Five Eyes, who knows. Now there's talk of cutting the US out, after all the Russia stuff. All such pacts are going to be on the table in the years to come, I'm afraid!
Before I met my friend Greg (https://thepermafrostaussie.substack.com), Australia and New Zealand were hardly on my radar, I guess Substack knows that part of the world is on my radar, because your blog showed up on my feed. Sorry, guys, you aren't invisible any more, at least one American living in Russia knows about you :)
Hi Nikolai! Thanks for reading! Ah, the invisibility can never last...but I won't tell Trump if you won't tell Putin :)
Great writing, Dan. I didn't realise that NZ's biggest threat is China but it makes sense.
When did you and your family migrate to NZ? Where in the US are you from?
Thanks, Kaila! I don't know if Kiwis would see it that way (see Stephen's comment below.) But as NZ's largest trading partner they have immense sway here. Will be interesting to see how that all plays out going forward.
We've been in NZ five years now. I grew in Phoenix, lived all over but mostly in Texas since. We came down here from Shanghai in the pandemic and just...never left. Wrote that story for the blog. I know you've done your own crazy last-minute flights across the Pacific, you might dig it! https://www.american.nz/p/blame-it-on-baby-jet-lag
I'm a Belgian living in NZ and I would agree with you that for NZ China is the biggest threat. But maybe we see it differently because we've also seen different threats and seen things from a different angle. I'm not sure...
Hi Sophie! I agree, I think you do see it differently, for all kinds of reasons! I've lived abroad a bunch, and thought a lot of about cultural differences over the years. But until now I'd never much though about cultural differences in geopolitical threat/safety vibes. An American blindspot, I'm sure. Lots of safety to think about now, alas...
Oooo thanks! I'll save this to read soon!
I can’t understand why anyone would be even vaguely upset or surprised about Chinese naval exercises in the South Pacific in light of this: “Aotearoa, together with Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) destroyer JS Sazanami (DD-113) and Royal Australian Navy (RAN) destroyer HMAS Sydney (DDG-42) conducted a transit of the Taiwan Strait on Sept. 25 and took part in multinational drills in the South China Sea on Sept. 28.” (from your link)
Hi Stephen! Fair point. This is what navies do, right? China's never done this sort of show so far south before, and to do so without any warning is certainly a flex. But you're right that it's not particularly surprising. China's been clear about their ambitions in the Pacific for a long time.
Whether to be upset is another question! I think as an American I've been raised to be reflexively upset/wary/afraid when any superpower challenges my own, anywhere on Earth. In my experience Kiwis see and feel this stuff differently--a small country moving through global realpolitik in an entirely different way (and admirably willing to stand up to the US on nukes.) There's been the call for more defense spending, but nothing like the freakout there would have been in the US (remember the weather balloon a couple years ago? We went bonkers, and not entirely without reason.)
I guess what I'm saying is that to truly adopt your Kiwi ice-in-the-veins about Chinese naval patrols I'd have to...stop being American, at least from some big-picture safety/power mindset. That's the question on the table here, and now the safety is suddenly very much in question. Heavy stuff for a lost gringo. Thanks for reading, and for taking the time to write and press the issue!
New Zeland and Australia would be wise to collaborate on a fast-tracked nuclear weapons program. As should Japan, South Korea, Germany, Canada, and Poland.
Hi Tom! Thanks for reading! A nonstarter here, for better or worse. NZ is proudly a 'nuclear free-zone,' and even kicked out US nuclear subs back in the 80s. The policy has remained untouched by left and right govts for forty years. Would be a huge lift to even begin the conversation, much less build the damn things!
NO to nuclear weapons!
I suppose there is merit in the argument that New Zealand and Australia should follow the North Korean strategy to prevent the psychopathic megalomaniacs in DC from “bombing us back to the Stone Age”, but as Dan says this is a non-starter in Aotearoa since being anti-nuclear is a core part of the national identity. Maybe a better strategy would be to threaten a ban on sales of New Zealand wine to the US, seeing as many of the American oligarchs seem to be addicted to it.
No! Not the Sav Blanc!
Or confiscate their bunkers?
I can’t feel what you’re feeling but I know how I’m feeling and I remember the way we felt during the Cold War and the Cuban missile crisis. Doesn’t seem so long ago any more.
Hi Anna! Thanks for your note. It doesn't feel so long ago, does it? I'm a late Gen X kid, old enough to remember the Cold War but mostly steeped in the End of History 90s. I am constantly, embarassingly shocked at how much HISTORY is happening these days. And exhausted. And nervous indeed.
Hang in there Dan. History also says everything changes💙
I love your substack. Beautifully written. I think, for me, the experience of being an American is the excruciating shift from being wary of external forces to fearful of my own countrymen. Things are moving quickly here.