'Viewing the Iceberg from Down Under': A New Zealand Perspective

In: Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, Band 39, Heft 3, S. 95-112

Abstract

The image of an iceberg is used to analyze New Zealand's role in the Commonwealth at all levels. The visible tip is made up of the Commonwealth Games, the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth, & the CHOGMs. Hidden beneath the waterline of popular attention are three layers: the political/official Commonwealth of ministerial consultations & intergovernmental organizations; the "People's Commonwealth" of NGOs & civil society; & the "Corporate Commonwealth" of the Business Forum & the "Commonwealth business culture." The Commonwealth was New Zealand's original "window on the world" &, along with GB & Canada, New Zealand is one of the "Group of Three" that participated in all the consultations since 1887. Today, the Commonwealth is only one of numerous international forums, where the country pursues its interests. But with a New Zealander as Secretary-General, & with considerable affinity with the Commonwealth's small state majority, New Zealand has found a regional role in the South Pacific as a substitute for its former role as a adjunct to British (then American) power. Adapted from the source document.