Let’s take lead on disarmament
The first job of the new Disarmament Minister should be to start the ball rolling to outlaw ‘‘killer robots’’, says
Ten years ago last week New Zealand’s Disarmament Minister hosted an international meeting in Wellington Town Hall. That diplomatic hui led to a global ban on cluster bombs that’s had far-reaching consequences. Military powers like Britain and France have destroyed millions of weapons that will now never be able to inflict suffering on people and communities. Plenty of voices said such a ban would never happen. New Zealand and New Zealanders helped make it happen. We can and should provide that leadership again.
Last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern indicated an ambition to step up our global role, leading her first foreign policy speech with the themes of climate change and disarmament and announcing that Winston Peters will take the role of Disarmament Minister.
We’re right to focus on these topics, not only because climate change and nuclear war are the two existential threats to humanity, but because they are also areas where we’ve signed weighty international agreements, where people and governments are organised and where we’ve got a strong and proud history of collective action in Aotearoa.
New Zealanders helped achieve the Paris Agreement on climate change, making space for the voices of indigenous peoples on the front line of climate injustice. For my part, I was part of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons that received the Nobel Peace Prize last year for its work towards the landmark Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons adopted at the United Nations.
Looking at the ills of the world, it’s reasonable to wonder about the value of these treaties and agreements, especially when powerful countries boycott them or leaders like President Trump reverse out of them. For smaller states like New Zealand, though, rules and standard setting are the best tools we have. In the long arc of history, setting legally binding standards does make a difference. Sure, not everyone always lives up to the rules we set, but they do compel states to act and shape the legitimacy of certain behaviours.
Foreign policy in Aotearoa recognises this in its pursuit of international rules. Reinstating the Cabinet portfolio of Disarmament and Arms Control, in line with Labour’s election policy, bolsters our multilateral capacity.
The ministerial warrant for disarmament signals our intent to be a proactive global leader. I know from the campaigns to ban cluster bombs and nuclear weapons that our disarmament officials operate with both clout and finesse. It’s a boost to have their work again represented in Cabinet and it’ll be noticed by other countries and by the international campaigns that look to NZ for leadership.
The ministerial warrant for Disarmament signals our intent to be a proactive global leader.
To bolt out of the gate, Disarmament Minister Winston Peters can lead a diplomatic process to outlaw the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems, or ‘‘killer robots’’. If we don’t want a future with autonomous machines capable of firing guns and missiles using cameras, sensors and algorithms, without any meaningful human control, we need to stop it.
New Zealand should join the 22 countries that have called for a ban on killer robots and we should help launch negotiations for binding international law to halt the technological slide to mechanised slaughter.
With the groundwork done over the past four years of UN expert meetings, a treaty could be concluded by the end of 2019. This is something concrete Peters can do. It would be a genuine legacy for him and for this first-term Government.
As we take on this strengthened role on disarmament and foreign policy, we’d also be wise to consider some questions closer to home.
We see ourselves as a peaceful global actor, but does our SAS engagement with US-led activities in the Middle East fit with that? Sensibly, the PM has asked the attorney-general to look into the SAS-led Operation Burnham in Afghanistan in 2010. This should be a full, open and independent inquiry. It should also trigger a wider conversation about the role of the Defence Force in the future.
We have a humanitarian identity as helpful, good neighbours, willing to lend a hand. We rightly distanced ourselves from Australia’s stance over Manus Island, but our refugee quota is actually lower per capita than Australia’s.
Diplomatically, we’re an honest broker, able to mediate between different countries and bridge divides in ways that other, more strongly aligned countries, cannot. How does our spy partnership with Australia, Canada, the UK and US affect that mediator role?
Our governments embrace tikanga Ma¯ ori and indigenous knowledge as part of our international identity. Yet we joined Australia, Canada and the US in opposing the UN declaration on indigenous rights (before eventually endorsing it some years later). We need to honour te tiriti o Waitangi at home and advocate for decolonisation on the world stage.
A new government gives us an opportunity to address these questions and to rethink our foreign policy, whether it’s disarmament, human rights, climate justice or any other topic. All of us with an interest in NZ’s role in the world should seize this opportunity and contribute to that rethinking process.
❚ Thomas Nash is working to promote a progressive role for New Zealand in the world.