Diplomacy is a brutal and two-faced business. Public diplomatic statements are bland and fatuous, but in private the talk is fierce. WikiLeaks' latest hoard of leaked emails from the American intelligence think-tank Stratfor usually mentions New Zealand in terms of contempt.
"When it comes to geopolitical importance," Stratfor analyst Chris Farnham wrote to colleague William Hobart in September last year, "it doesn't get much f---ing lower than New Zealand." Hobart had a similar view. "What possible strategic use is that little part of the world to f---ing anyone??!!" he wrote to Farnham.
The emails give a good idea of how American and Australian political insiders, working for a company once called "the shadow CIA", view New Zealand. Stratfor sells intelligence to government agencies and big corporations, and has close ties with the US government and military.
The emails also provide a brutal contrast to the official version of how the United States and Australia regard New Zealand.
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