New Zealand needs to act with greater confidence this year, living up to expectations it will take a larger role on the world stage, Prof Robert Patman says.
Speaking on Global Insight, the international relations specialist says New Zealand has global influence. The country needs to take that seriously in 2025, getting off the fence on global issues including climate change and human rights, he says.
"It's been sitting on the fence for a number of international issues and I think it needs to act with greater confidence and self-assurance on the international stage," the University of Otago academic says.
Prof Patman singles out the United Nations Security Council veto as a topic about which he believes New Zealand should be more vocal.
"New Zealand needs to be vocal in its opposition to the current situation, which has been a force of destabilisation globally.
"The current veto system is undermining international security. It's been a long-term New Zealand position that we oppose it. I think we now need to shout that from the rooftops and cooperate with other like-minded countries... [to] put pressure on the great powers to end this absurdity."
In this first episode of Global Insight for the year, Prof Patman also discusses important global events and trends to watch in the coming 12 months, including the impact of the second Donald Trump presidency of the United States and a 2015 prediction by NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan that extraterrestrial life would be discovered by this year.
