Brash on New Zealand’s potential involvement in AUKUS 

Summarised by Centrist

Don Brash is against New Zealand joining AUKUS and aligning militarily with the U.S. against China, NZ’s largest trading partner, despite suggestions from the new government. 

Brash challenges the notion that the U.S.-China rivalry is about democracy, citing U.S. alliances with non-democratic nations. He references Graham Allison’s “Thucydides’ Trap,” suggesting the U.S. is trying to maintain its dominance against the rising power that is China, noting the possibility that war will be the result. 

According to Brash, New Zealand should instead focus on protecting its economic zone and questions the need for significant national defence spending or a military alliance at all. Especially one that compromises its relationship with China.

He sees no military threat from China to New Zealand and criticises U.S. military interventions as disastrous, citing Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan as examples. 

Read more over at Bassett, Brash, and Hide