Shared Citizenship and Sovereignty: The Case of the Cook Islands’ and Niue’s 13 Relationship with New Zealand Zbigniew Dumieński Contents Introduction ...................................................................................... 222 Microstates as Modern Protected States ........................................................ 224 Cook Islands and Niue: Geography, Population, Politics, and History ........................ 228 Geography ................................................................................... 228 Population .................................................................................... 230 Politics ....................................................................................... 230 History....................................................................................... 231 Protected Statehood and the Question of Shared Citizenship .................................. 235 Conclusion ....................................................................................... 240 Cross-References ................................................................................ 241 References ....................................................................................... 241 Abstract The world in the twenty-first century contains many distinct small polities of varying degree of self-governance, ranging from fully sovereign states to mere autonomies or special administrative regions. Their existence raises the question of the meaning of sovereignty, statehood, and politico-economic viability in the face of extreme geographic and demographic challenges. This question is of particular relevance in the context of one group of diminutive states that have delegated some of the key attributes of their sovereignty to larger states in order to overcome some of the limitations imposed upon them by geography or demo- graphics. This chapter examines two such political units: the Cook Islands and Niue. While formally independent, they have functioned in free association with New Zealand. In addition to receiving significant amounts of financial assistance, as well as delegating authority in such areas as monetary policy or defense to their former metropolitan power, the Cook Islanders and Niueans have remained New Z. Dumieński (*) Auckland University of Technology, Auckland, New Zealand e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 221 S. Ratuva (ed.), The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2898-5_14 222 Z. Dumieński Zealand citizens, and their territories have remained treated as part of New Zealand for the purpose of obtaining its citizenship. The existence of such arrangements has been a source of confusion. In particular, it has raised the question of the compatibility of free association and shared citizenship with sovereign statehood. This chapter addresses this question and argues that despite their miniscule size and close association with New Zealand, both the Cook Islands and Niue can and should be seen as sovereign states. Keywords Microstates · Small states · Sovereignty · Shared citizenship · Free association · Modern protected states Introduction The world in the twenty-first century contains many distinct small polities of varying degree of self-governance, ranging from fully sovereign states to mere autonomies or special administrative regions. Their continued survival, and indeed, often economic and political success, provokes scholarly debates on both the effects of smallness on domestic institutions and the role of diminutive units in the international system dominated by large powers. While tiny polities are hardly a novelty in international relations (Dommen 1985, 17; Sundhaussen 2003), their current multitude and position in international relations and global economy have both fascinated and perplexed modern historians, sociolo- gists, political scientists, and economists (e.g., Benedict 1967; Harden 1985;Hintjens and Newitt 1992;Hobsbawm1992; Parrish 1990;Reid1975; Plischke 1977; Catudal 1975). As noted by Simpson (2007,29),“there is an extensive and expanding literature concerning small states.” Many scholars have been interested not only in the role that small states play in the world dominated by great powers (e.g., Amstrup 1976;East1973;Goetschel1998;Harden1985;Hey2003; Keohane 1969;Mohamed 2002; Neumann and Gstöhl 2004) but also in the possible effects of diminutive geographic or demographic size on various states’ economic performance (e.g., Armstrong and Read 1995, 1998;Baldacchino2006;Grydehøj2011;Katzenstein 1985;MehmetandTahiroglu2002;Milne2000; Srinivasan 1986; Sutton 2011; Tõnurist 2010) and political institutions (e.g., AJPA 1994; Alesina 2003;Brayand Fergus 1986; Schumacher 1973; Veenendaal 2015). This extensive research fits into “a long tradition in the history of political thinking in Europe” (Amstrup 1976,163) concerned with the effects of size on states’ behavior and institutions. One group of tiny polities appears as especially intriguing. Due to the constraints imposed by their smallness, these states function in close relationships with at least one larger state acting as a benign protector of their political and economic viability. While sovereign, they delegate some of the key attributes of their sovereignty (such as the conduct of foreign policy, defense, key administrative functions, monetary policy) to larger states in order to overcome some of the limitations imposed upon them by geography or demographics. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the existence of such 13 Shared Citizenship and Sovereignty: The Case of the Cook Islands’... 223 peculiar arrangements, together with these polities’ minuscule size and relative obscurity, has led to some confusion regarding their political status and place within the international system. Furthermore, the establishment of close associations between the tiny polities and larger states has raised the questions of the meaning of sovereignty and statehood in the face of extreme geo-demographic challenges and miniscule size. This chapter looks at two such polities: the Cook Islands and Niue. Both of them are not just miniscule but also located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which amplifies the geo-demographic challenges to political and economic viability pre- sented by their size. The key way in which the two entities overcome their limitations is via free, albeit far-reaching and comprehensive, association arrangements with New Zealand, who used to exercise sovereignty over these island territories. The Cook Islands and Niue do not just receive generous financial aid from their former colonial power but also have delegated certain key attributes of sovereignty to New Zealand. In part, this takes place in the form of New Zealand’s direct assistance in such fields as the conduct of foreign affairs, military defense, and public adminis- tration. However, arguably more importantly and curiously, it is also manifested in the fact that, despite their respective countries’ formal independence from New Zealand, both the Cook Islanders and Niueans have remained New Zealand citizens, and their territories have remained treated as part of New Zealand for the purpose of obtaining New Zealand’s citizenship. This means that the people of both polities have an unobstructed access to New Zealand’s infrastructure, including healthcare, education, and welfare system. By virtue of New Zealand’s agreements with Aus- tralia, this also provides them with a right to reside and work in Australia and travel visa-free to most countries in the world. Perhaps not surprisingly, the existence of such close ties between New Zealand and the two island polities, coupled with their remoteness, tiny size, and lack of any strategic resources, has resulted in their political status being often subject to confusion, misunderstanding, or ignorance, both outside the region and even in New Zealand itself. To many people, superficially, the two entities appear to “to occupy the ill-defined no-mans-land between colony and independent statehood” (Smith 2010, 170). In particular, the issue of the two polities’ sovereignty and statehood, in light of their association with New Zealand, has been clouded by a high degree of confusion. Can these entities be described as sovereign states? Are there geo-demographic constraints, coupled with close links to New Zealand and lack of separate citizenships compatible with the concept of sovereign statehood? The aim of this chapter is to clarify and address these questions. Its central argument is that that despite their miniscule size and peculiar geopolitical arrange- ments, both the Cook Islands and Niue can and should be seen as sovereign states. While rare and complex, the type of arrangements between the Cook Islands, Niue, and New Zealand is not without precedent. Indeed, it aligns with the experience of several other diminutive states that have managed to mitigate geo-demographic constraints and maintain sovereignty thanks to establishing and managing close relations with larger states acting as benign protectors of their political and economic viability. 224 Z. Dumieński The chapter begins by presenting the concept of micro-statehood understood as modern protected statehood. It then discusses the case of the Cook Islands and Niue, with a particular emphasis on the issue of free association, shared citizenship and their implications for the countries’ sovereignty and politico-economic viability.