The 2026 general election is taking place as the world experiences a tumultuous transition.

Russia is sustaining a brutal effort to annex Ukraine, the Israel-Palestine conflict has devastated Gaza and the West Bank, China’s Pacific presence is growing, the United States is ensnared in a war with Iran, and the tempo of climate change is quickening.

With the core principles of an independent New Zealand foreign policy – support for a rules-based international order and multilateralism – under sustained attack, Foreign Minister Winston Peters recently reflected on his government’s response during the past three years.

He told the Institute of International Affairs the country had faced “the worst international conditions since 1945”.

The challenges it faced included the “return of trade protectionism”, a United Nations hamstrung by the “abuse of the Security Council veto”, and “unwelcome geopolitical manoeuvring in the Pacific”.

The “order-shattering nature of the geostrategic environment”, Peters said, marked a shift “from rules to power”. Consequently, the National-led coalition had opted for “quiet diplomacy” and realism based on accepting “the world as it is, not how we wish it would be”.

This realism, Peters claimed, has “left the next government with........

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