Clutching at straws

Bill English is again accusing Helen Clark of upsetting the US, this time over remarks that she made at the European Policy Centre. According to Stuff, the supposedly damaging remarks were:

"New Zealand as a small nation depends on the international rule of law," she said.

"In a world where might was right, we would stand to be the loser - and so would every other small nation."

English is clutching at straws here. The above has literally been the core of our foreign policy for the last fifty years. The US knows this, and knows that it's not going to change, hegemon or no hegemon. If Bill English is actually concerned about our national interest, then perhaps he should consider how we would fare in a world with no framework of international law, where our fate would depend on the whims of the powerful.

(And BTW, the European Policy Centre has a summary of Helen Clark's comments online.)