95bFM Political and defence experts suggest NZ rethink America’s position on the global stage
2 February, 2026
Interviews by Florian Bell and Alex Fox, adapted by Vihan Dalal
The US recently threatened its traditional allies in Europe with tariffs if they failed to support America’s takeover of Greenland. Although the threats have been dropped, political and security experts have sounded the siren on the US’s foreign policy and its position as an ally to liberal democracies like New Zealand.
Political experts have warned New Zealand should be wary of the United States’ position on the world stage.
The US recently threatened eight European countries with tariffs had they not supported its takeover of Greenland. Although the tariffs have been called off by US President Donald Trump, experts like Senior Lecturer of Political Science at Otago University, Professor Robert Patman say America’s position as an ally of liberal democracies must be reconsidered.
However, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Defence and Security Studies at Massey University, Dr John Battersby claims the global rules-based order is an illusion.
Trump’s actions in Europe and elsewhere have altered attitudes towards the US, with Europe planning counter-tariffs had the US proceeded with the takeover of Greenland. It has reduced its commitments to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as well, asking its European allies to boost their national defence budgets. Battersby told 95bFM’s The Wire that New Zealand has to consider the current US foreign policy.
“That's our first problem, the unpredictability in US policy. Are they going to stay in the Pacific? Are they going to try and preserve their position? Or are they going to retreat and let China come in and be the dominant hegemon in the Pacific? So that's one thing we've got to think about.”
He also questioned what New Zealand would do, should the US decide to increase its presence in the Pacific. University of Otago’s Senior Lecturer of Political Science, Professor Robert Patman, echoes Battersby and says the US’s position on Greenland sets a dangerous precedent for the world order.
“After all, if Mr Trump got away with that, what's to stop him putting in a bid for buying the South Island of New Zealand, or the North Island for that matter? It creates a shocking precedent, a grave precedent in international politics,” he told 95bFM’s The Wire.
The US has previously considered relocating its troops from South Korea to Guam to counter China’s influence in the region, according to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
Patman also says liberal democracies, including New Zealand, need to look at the US with “clear eyes” for its lack of respect for the international rules-based order.
Battersby claims the contrary: that the rules based order is an illusion, something that the US has demonstrated with its actions and policies.
“I don't think Trump's overthrown it [the rules-based order] or changed it. I think what he's done is exposed the fact that the rules-based order is an illusion. And the problem with him is that his use of force or his threat of force is just so erratic and so common and so frequent that it kind of really underscored the absence of any such order.”
Battersby hopes for the prevalence of common sense for the remainder of Trump’s presidential term.
“I'd be hopeful that somewhere, there'd be enough residual restraint that could control that sort of [erratic] behavior, because I think that's fundamentally the problem. And that international trust between nations is recomposed.”
He says global dependence on the US will also be tested in the next couple of decades. Alliances, such as the one including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, also called BRICS, have sought to challenge western dominance, as well reduce their dependence on the US Dollar, on the world stage. The alliance has expanded more recently to include Iran, Ethiopia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
