Robert AysonRobert Ayson

Robert Ayson is professor of strategic studies at Victoria University of Wellington.

New Zealand and China: time for clarity in a hall of mirrors

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As China sends abstract signals about its unhappiness with New Zealand, there are some concrete steps that Jacinda Ardern’s government can take, writes Robert Ayson of the Victoria University of Wellington Centre for Strategic Studies. At the height of the Cold War, western intelligence agencies overanalysed who was standing next to whom at Red Square parades … Read more

What will New Zealand do if Trump attacks North Korea?

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Donald Trump’s increasingly bellicose threats against North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un are raising fears of all-out war. But if the worst happens, which way will New Zealand jump? Victoria University professor Robert Ayson considers the options. Many of us are thinking, or at least hoping, that Donald Trump is bluffing when he implies that violence is … Read more