Fish during conflict
those that we consider partners with shared values, or equally open the door for those who don’t share our values and principles to have a basis for which to undertake unilateral action,’’ said Ardern.
Not speaking only to Salisbury; retaliatory strikes in Syria against seemingly Russian-supported chemical attacks, Russia’s known interference in the US Presidential Election and global state-sanctioned cyber attacks have nearly all Western leaders in a state of alarm.
A general Russian chaos theory might be an easy explanation for the apparent war the state is waging on the western world.
Russia is facing a major resource shortage, it can’t compete with many of the major powers economically, militarily or in international influence and so for a leader like Vladimir Putin – to whom power and strength are one and the same – it isn’t about beating enemies rather, pulling them down.
Ardern says there have been a number of moments in history, where leaders bent on not following the rules have ‘‘sought chaos in their approach’’.
‘‘Power is manifest in very different ways. Some manifest their power through economic heft, some utilise their power through subversive means.
‘‘We have to make sure that no matter what, we take a consistent approach with everyone and New Zealand is a loser when countries don’t,’’ she says.
During a ‘‘Four Eyes Meeting’’ – of four of the Five Eyes partners who happened to all be in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting last week, all leaders made a brief public statement pointing to the necessity for the US-led missile strikes in Syria and Russia’s shared responsibility for the chemical attacks that prompted them.
Ardern at the end, added a more forceful addendum than the others: ‘‘We agree with the need to send a clear message and that clear message has been sent. Given the action was taken to call out a breach of international law, now we must seek to return to the international order that we have been seeking to defend.’’
Critics have been in a flap over a perceived lack of support from New Zealand, but for a controversial spy network like the Five Eyes, it may not hurt the alliance to have a less hawkish voice among the ranks, where public opinion over its actions is concerned.