As a nation with a proud history of peacekeeping and principled foreign policy, we should limit our role to humanitarian rebuilding efforts and steer clear of any complicity in conflicts sparked by Trump’s dangerous anti-prosperity agenda.
Aotearoa must not be seen to be taking sides, particularly against our largest trading partner, China. There is no doubt that Trump will cause international relations to destabilise, and we’d be fools to get sucked into the vortex of United States-initiated wars, from the shameful Gaza genocide to the unending Ukraine conflict that the US appears to be swapping sides on.
Yesterday, the BBC reported:
"When you start a war, you got to know you can win," the US president said.
Trump has repeatedly blamed Zelensky and Biden for the war, despite Russia invading Ukraine first in 2014, five years before Zelensky won the presidency, and then launching a full-scale invasion in 2022.
Trump’s idiotic claims and destructive rhetoric are a lit fuse for global conflict. His proposal to “take over” Gaza, displacing two million Palestinians to turn the war-torn strip into a “Riviera of the Middle East,” is not just delusional...it’s a blatant endorsement of ethnic cleansing. This plan, coupled with his unwavering support for Israel’s Nazi-like government, pours fuel on an already catastrophic fire.
By suggesting U.S. troops could occupy Gaza and permanently resettle its people, Trump is greenlighting annexation and further violence, thumbing his nose at international law and the two-state solution. His cosy relationship with Netanyahu, who smirked through Trump’s Gaza press conference, shows a shared contempt for Palestinian rights and regional stability.
The U.S., under Trump’s influence, has long played a dirty hand in global conflicts. In Gaza, decades of American military and diplomatic support for Israel have enabled the ongoing genocide, with over 50,000 Palestinian deaths, most of them children, since October 2023. The Biden administration laid the groundwork, but Trump’s explicit backing of Israeli settler policies and his withdrawal from UN human rights bodies signal a new level of complicity.
Last week, The Guardian reported:
Trump was ‘the candidate of peace’. Now he’s fanning the flames of war
But less than 100 days into his second term, Trump has not only instigated economic and political chaos at home, he is also stoking multiple conflicts abroad. Last month, Trump launched a new US bombing campaign against Houthi rebels in Yemen, who have been disrupting international shipping in the Red Sea. Trump also supported the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, after he imposed a new siege on Gaza and restarted Israel’s devastating war against the Palestinian territory. And on 28 March, Israel bombed Beirut for the first time since agreeing to a US-brokered ceasefire with the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon, jeopardizing another fragile truce in the region.
In Ukraine, Trump’s “peace diplomacy” is a sham. His push for a rushed ceasefire, demanding Kyiv cede territory and abandon NATO aspirations, effectively rewards Putin’s aggression. The U.S. helped escalate this war by expanding NATO eastward, poking the Russian bear while arming Ukraine to the teeth, turning it into a proxy battleground. Trump’s current posturing as a deal maker only emboldens authoritarian regimes, risking further instability in Europe.
New Zealand’s role must be clear: we are peacekeepers, not pawns in Trump’s imperialist chess game. Our history in East Timor and the Solomon Islands shows we can rebuild communities and foster stability in an effective way that utilises both our skill-set and existing military equipment. Any involvement in or help to escalate Trump’s conflicts...whether in Gaza, Ukraine, or future flash points, risks tainting our reputation and dragging us into unending conflicts that only serve U.S. interests, not ours. We should focus on humanitarian aid, reconstruction, and supporting UN-led peacekeeping missions that prioritise people over power.
Trump’s fascism thrives on division and destruction. New Zealand must reject his warmongering siren call and instead work to promote on our independent, principled foreign policy. Let’s invest in the rebuilding of war torn countries, not help the United States to destroy them...because the world deserves better than Trump’s apocalyptic vision for an Earth on fire.
