OUTDATED ATTITUDES FRUSTRATE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY EFFORTS IN

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000322

SIPDIS

STATE FOR EAP/PD-AGRIMES, EAP/ANP-DRICCI, EAP/P-KBAILES, INR/R/MR

E.O. 12985: N/A
TAGS: OTRA KIRC OIIP MNUC KPAO KMDR OPRC NZ
SUBJECT: OUTDATED ATTITUDES FRUSTRATE PUBLIC DIPLOMACY EFFORTS IN
NEW ZEALAND

SUMMARY: Negative perceptions of the United States, sparked by the
US response to New Zealand's anti-nuclear legislation, are becoming
an entrenched filter through which New Zealanders view all US
foreign policy initiatives. Decades later, these lingering
sentiments are exploited by anti-American proponents to generate
suspicion, and they undermine any attempt to portray US foreign
policy as pragmatic, multi-lateral, flexible, and forward-looking.
END SUMMARY.


1. New Zealand media reflect the views of the wider New Zealand
population when they describe the US reaction to the anti-nuclear
legislation as "heavy-handed" and "bullying." New Zealanders feel
that the US reaction failed to recognize New Zealand's sovereignty
and its right to make its own choices and disagree with the US. One
major daily does not hesitate to describe the residual ill-feeling
as "anti-Americanism"; the country's second-largest daily, the
Wellington-based Dominion Post outlines the phenomenon like this:

BEGIN TEXT: The nuclear impasse is a highly visible irritant and has
contributed to a regrettable undertone of anti-American sentiment...
What is needed is for disagreements to be managed more maturely.
That they are not is partly New Zealand's fault ... but the U.S.
also contributed to the suspicion and ill-feeling. Its heavy-handed
response helped turn the anti-nuclear legislation into an icon that
not only expresses New Zealand's long-standing suspicion of all
things nuclear, but also symbolizes New Zealand's right to determine
its own foreign policy. If the U.S. wants to repair the
relationship, it is going to have to do more than pay lip service to
New Zealand's right to disagree. Restricting military cooperation
harms only the common interests of the two countries, particularly
when U.S. and New Zealand personnel find themselves working
alongside each other. END TEXT. (07/06/05)

A prominent South Island daily, The Otago Daily Times, adds:

BEGIN TEXT: The folk-memory of events such as America's bullying
response ... has ensured popular support for the legislation, today
almost an act of blind faith... No change will occur, however, while
New Zealanders continue with the belief that to do so would make
them feel like citizens of a client state. America's failure to
recognize this widely-held belief is the chief reason for the
enduring ... sentiment. END TEXT. (07/10/05)


2. As long as New Zealanders continue to view US policy through this
filter of residual ill-feeling, they are likely to construe any US
action in a way that bolsters their established negative view of the
United States. This results in these harmful perceptions becoming
further ingrained.

In February The Dominion Post expressed concern that
anti-Americanism predicated on perceived US "bullying" and
"heavy-handed response" was and is becoming entrenched, particularly
in the younger generation.

BEGIN TEXT: The US insistence on punishing New Zealand for banning
nuclear warships is petty and unproductive... A generation of New
Zealanders has now been brought up with the knowledge that whatever
former Secretary of State Colin Powell might have said, the US and
New Zealand are not "very, very, very good friends." Good friends do
not try to resolve disagreements over matters of principle by
bullying those they disagree with. As a sovereign nation, New
Zealand is entitled to determine its own foreign policy. US attempts
to force a change of heart by linking anti-nuclear policy to trade
and military cooperation do nothing for its standing in this part of
the world. END TEXT. (02/27/06)


3. Two decades of conscientious conventional public diplomacy have
yielded limited results. Making further, significant progress and
preventing US policy from consistently being used to undermine US
interests requires creative, modern, big-picture strategies focused
on countering this underlying perception.

New Zealand's largest circulation daily, The New Zealand Herald,
clearly articulates the hope that a new American strategy might
provide the impetus required to win the hearts and minds of New
Zealanders and cement closer relations between the two countries. It
expresses a desire for Washington to "help New Zealanders recognize
a misplaced and redundant source of pride." (07/06/05)


4. While Embassy Wellington has undertaken some unconventional
public diplomacy (including a proposal for a New Zealand-run museum
exhibition examining the context of decisions about the bilateral
relationship, school debates with moots such as "NZ contributes more
to the US than the US contributes to NZ," and our regular but
unconventionally-structured dialogues with the media),we are
exploring further possibilities and look forward to an exchange of
views with Washington as we move forward.

BURNETT, ACTING