Aotearoa New Zealand, AUKUS, and the Anglosphere: navigating security identity amidst geostrategic change

The concept of the Anglosphere, while exercising some debate within other of its members, is one that has little currency in the Aotearoa New Zealand context. Instead, it is AUKUS – the most recent project of three core Anglosphere states – that has framed discussion on issues to do with the concept. Utilising three historic ideational tenets of Aotearoa New Zealand’s foreign policy – independent foreign policy, nuclear free policy, and a Pacific orientation – this article examines public debate around AUKUS as presented in print news media in the period from its launch in September 2021 through to December 2024. It demonstrates that, while a high number of articles was generated over the timeframe, discussion was largely driven by events external to Aotearoa New Zealand rather than by autochthonous interest. Further, while there has been some local discussion on joining Pillar II of AUKUS, this has, to date, lacked in-depth analysis. Finally, it finds that the core ideational orientations of Aotearoa New Zealand foreign policy have had relatively little play in media considerations of AUKUS.