"Why New Zealand and ASEAN must build middle power momentum" by CWP alum Cheng-Chwee Kuik

August 09, 2026
Why New Zealand and ASEAN must build middle power momentum

To address global challenges and mounting uncertainties, New Zealand and Southeast Asian states must turn their “middle power moment” into momentum, writes professor of international relations at the Institute of Malaysian and International Studies, Cheng-Chwee Kuik.

“Middle power” is neither a new term nor a new phenomenon in world politics. Yet the mounting uncertainties in major power relations during the Trump-Xi era – and the resultant growing sense of shared vulnerabilities among small- and medium-sized states – have sparked renewed attention, imagination, and debate about the role, limits, and pressing needs of middle-power diplomacy today.

https://www.asianz.org.nz/why-new-zealand-and-asean-must-build-middle-power-momentum

Cheng-Chwee Kuik is a professor of international relations at the National University of Malaysia (UKM)’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) and concurrently a non-resident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
 

Photo Credit: https://www.asianz.org.nz/why-new-zealand-and-asean-must-build-middle-power-momentum

Cheng-Chwee Kuik is a professor of international relations at the National University of Malaysia (UKM)’s Institute of Malaysian and International Studies (IKMAS) and concurrently a non-resident senior fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute (FPI) of the Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS).