Students, Soldiers, Sports, Sheep and the Silver-Screen: New Zealand’s Soft Power in ASEAN and Southeast Asia

Although New Zealand is a small state in the South Pacific, it has a great interest in the stability of Southeast Asia, the safety of sea lanes which pass through it and the centrality of ASEAN in the regional security architecture. However, New Zealand has limited hard power capabilities: the country’s military expenditure is extremely modest and its population and GDP are dwarfed by ASEAN as a region and by some Southeast Asian countries. What New Zealand potentially offers Southeast Asia, however, is its soft power. This article identifies five of New Zealand’s soft power assets — students, soldiers, sports, sheep and the silver-screen — and critically examines whether these constitute sufficient resources for New Zealand to engage with Southeast Asia adequately, and make a contribution to regional stability.