Small State Intelligence: New Zealand in SEATO Security Affairs

Abstract

This article aims to shed light on how and why small states enter into cooperation alliances with greater powers. It does so by assessing the intelligence and security cooperation activities of New Zealand in the Pacific basin as a small state during the Cold War era. It also assesses its relationships with the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States, as well as its role within the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), an understudied international organization operating for collective defense. The article offers a threefold analysis involving financial costs, the quest for shelter and diversification. It argues that New Zealand utilized its alliance relationships with SEATO members to seek shelter and gain information with limited expenditure and less effort. Using original data from the archives of New Zealand and the UK, the article reveals that New Zealand's foreign and security policy commitments in the Pacific were shaped by the country's geographical remoteness and the limitations of its diplomatic capacity.