Larry and a peace-making New Zealand foreign policy

By John Gallagher - friend and colleague

I was also at the meeting where Larry spoke - the one that Jenny Lineham referred to on this web page - held at her place. It was there that I first heard some ideas that, before him, had very little currency in New Zealand but have subsequently come to have a very considerable impact on its international policies and relations.

He made a particularly useful comment about the then recent crisis where Iranian students had held the US embassy staff hostage for 444 days. That was when he pointed out that a key to its resolution was the role of Algerians who, having good connections with both the United States and the Iranians, were willing and able to act as mediators.

Larry also referred to Switzerland as a permanently neutral country that was always able to make diplomatic channels, Red Cross and other services available to all parties where there were disputes or conflicts. He also noted that as a neutral country, Switzerland had not taken sides or been attacked in two world wars that had been fought all around it.

While Larry often referred to Switzerland as an example that demonstrated how neutrality was a perfectly practical and effective option, that did not mean he advocated a slavish imitation of everything that Switzerland did. He recognized that there were various other models of neutrality, such as those of Sweden , Austria , Finland and Costa Rica and it would be for New Zealand to develop a form of neutrality and a blend of international services that were appropriate to it as a small, remote South Pacific country.

This service-based neutrality was what Larry termed "positive neutrality." It also came to be called "peacemaking neutrality."

Larry saw that without the 30 year Anzus policy, there would be a need for a new policy and this one could provide a platform for making highly constructive contributions in international life.

While Larry did not think that being in the Anzus alliance was a good idea for New Zealand , he also knew there would be problems of destabilization if we simply tried to quit the alliance i.e. as happened in Australia under Whitlam and in Chile under Allende. In fact, he wanted New Zealand to develop a constructive, new relationship with the United States and others based on peacemaking services. And as the role of the Algerians mentioned above had shown, even the United States could find itself in situations where it could need and appreciate mediation services.

In the very big picture of the day, Larry stressed how with the threat of nuclear holocaust that hung over the world, as a peacemaking neutral nation we could do our bit to offer tension-reducing, communication and peacemaking services to the opposing nuclear super-powers to help reduce the likelihood of such a war.

He also proposed, controversially, that if the worst did happen, New Zealand as a remote neutral country that was not targeted could be in a position to provide a haven any refugees who made it here. If New Zealand remained locked into Anzus on the other hand, it could offer virtually nothing that could help stem the build up of superpower tensions that was going on, and as an ally of one nuclear superpower, would be apt to become a target for the other should nuclear war break out between them.

Larry founded the New Zealand Nuclear-Free Zone Committee and successfully organized lobbing of the Labour Party that resulted in 5 Labour Party annual conferences passing remits favouring positive, peacemaking neutrality. Also in response to NZ Nuclear-Free Zone Committee lobbying, International service-based neutrality was adopted by Bob Jones's New Zealand Party in its heyday, in 1985.

With the adoption of peace mediation also by the Alliance Party when it stood for parliament in the 1993 election, a party political consensus was created about this aspect of foreign policy. Statements by Labour, National and the Alliance Party to this effect were recorded in the front page of Nuclear-Free magazine in September that year.

Peacemaking, and the negative corollary of not participating in foreign wars, have become increasingly embedded in New Zealand 's foreign policy culture. This has been reflected in New Zealand not taking up combat roles in two Iraq wars (the presence of a SAS unit for a stint in Afghanistan has been an exception to this trend).

In a positive vein, Larry's concept of New Zealand acting as a peace broker has come to be applied to Pacific and Asian contexts, including even by a National government while it, otherwise, advocated also a return to Anzus.

Under Labour in 1990, and then under National with Don McKinnon as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 1990s, New Zealand made all the difference to the conflict in Bougainville where over 10,000 people had died, by offering the peacemaking services that enabled the combatants to settle that dispute.

The son of an army general and onetime staunch advocate of Anzus, Don McKinnon was initially openly dismissive of the peace-broking concept. However, after working on the Bougainville issue he came to acknowledge that as an impartial and independent member of the international community, there was a real role for New Zealand in peacemaking diplomacy. In his post party-political life he has gone on to be the Secretary General of the Commonwealth in which his role is to promote and help maintain good and mutually helpful relationships between Commonwealth members.

Currently, as a New Zealand Government minister, Winston Peters is seen by both the North Korean and the United States itself as well suited to liaise between them to help defuse a potentially nuclear conflict.

So as Larry had anticipated, New Zealand 's nuclear-free diplomacy could actually become an asset in its relationships even with the United States - a point acknowledged by the current Assistant Secretary of State for Asia , Christopher Hill.

In sum, Larry has from the early 1980s proposed that the peace-broking services concept could provide a "comprehensive" basis for a new foreign policy alternative to Anzus. Our politicians have been also learning this, albeit slowly, issue by issue.

The progress can seem frustratingly slow, but looking back it is possible to see how Larry's ideas continue to inspire, to be put in to practice and to give hope - a wonderful legacy, thanks Larry.

A tribute to Larry Ross on the occasion of his 80th birthday, 25th November, 2007