Dr Damien Rogers: Raft of complexities for small country to navigate

New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully. Photo / AP

New Zealand's appointment to the UN Security Council will afford a number of benefits, and also open up a raft of complexities to navigate.

New Zealand will have, for the duration it holds its seat on the Security Council, a stronger voice in contemporary world affairs.

All members of the UN General Assembly and other non-state members of the international community will now want to know and understand New Zealand's views on the most pressing matters featuring on the council's agenda.

New Zealand's diplomats will gain valuable experience and heightened profile, which they will benefit from (as will New Zealand more generally) if they progress their careers in capitals around the world.

New Zealand's diplomats will need to manage the growing gap between New Zealand's hitherto strong commitment to multilateralism, international organisations, and the rule of law, and its increasingly close defence ties to the United States and the US' willingness to abandon multilateral, international organisations and the rule of law when it better suits its interests.

In particular, New Zealand's increasing interconnectedness with the US global surveillance network will come under increased scrutiny by UN member states.

However, New Zealand might find itself frustrated by an inability to shape the UN Security Council's agenda to include the most pressing security concerns for humanity - namely the negative impact of climate change and the degradation of our habitat; the need for the US, among others, to reduce and disarm their nuclear weapons stockpiles in accordance with their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty; and the elimination of poverty which denies decent life chances to more than one-sixth of humanity. The latter, of course, may well require a rethinking of New Zealand's current pursuit of free trade agreements.

Dr Damien Rogers is a lecturer in politics and international relations at Massey University's Albany campus, and has a PhD in political science and international relations from the Australian National University.