Invade and Conquer the U.S.A

[The Anti-Targ]

While the Southern Alps would be awesome for guerilla fighting, New Zealand would be incredibly easy to conquer. Blockade our ports, launch bombing raids from an handy aircraft carrier, and we'd cave. Our best defences are international law (those sort of things are Not Done in the current environment), our isolation, and our lack of strategic value. Why invade us, when Australia (far wealthier, and loaded with minerals) is so much easier to get at?

I don't agree. Perhaps our formal army would collapse and crumble because it is so small, weak and pathetic. But the resistance of the population would not fall away and it would eventually be untennable for the conquerors to remain. In effect they would have to allow the local population to resume self rule. It is no longer possible to subjugate a whole population, especially one which is used to having a great deal of freedom and lots of rights.

Military conquest is no longer a viable means of taking over any country which isn't already a dysfunctional basket case. Far better, easier and more profitable is economic conquest. Immigrate, buy up the land, own the infrastructure, pay off the politicians, run all the businesses. No shots fired.

[The Marquis de Leech]

The population would only meaningfully resist if they felt they had nothing to lose. I suspect that being a resistance fighter is a tougher job than your average twenty-first century New Zealander could handle.

[Rorshach]

I once watched Black Sheep. New Zealand will be fine.