Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific Islands: Ambiguous Allies?

Abstract

Divergences in Australia and New Zealand’s policies and practices raise questions about the status of their alliance and how the two states will work together to address challenges in the Pacific Islands. It is not clear how compatible New Zealand’s purportedly principles-based ‘Pacific Reset’ is with Australia’s more security driven plan to ‘step-up’ its engagement in the region. It is also not clear how the two states will reconcile their apparently different approaches to the United States and China, both in the region and beyond.