Jacinda Ardern is New Zealand’s Gorbachev

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is currently leading a trade mission to the United States, with a meeting between her, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris pencilled in for later this week. Her appeal on the world stage is evident – the New York Times over the weekend hailed her ‘inspiring’ – but there is a considerable disconnect now between her high regard internationally and the discontent she is facing domestically.

Ardern has several goals. One is spreading the word post-Covid that New Zealand is open for business. But she also wants to beef up international trade and regional security. The US has attempted to pivot to Indo-Pacific in recent years, but that plan is now in question after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. China’s aggressive relationship building in the Pacific, including a recent security deal with the Solomons, has concerned the Pacific islands’ traditional allies, New Zealand and Australia.

But what has garnered the most focus internationally is Ardern’s comments on gun control following the shooting of 21 people – including 19 children – in Uvalde, Texas. The