New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has sought to align the country more firmly with the US while still maintaining a certain distance. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/AAP New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has sought to align the country more firmly with the US while still maintaining a certain distance. Photograph: Hagen Hopkins/AAP Mon 19 Jul 2021 23.11 EDT Last modified on Mon 19 Jul 2021 23.12 EDT New Zealand has long prided itself on having an “independent” foreign policy that charts a middle path between great powers. It’s an approach for which the prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, and her new foreign minister, Nanaia Mahuta, have voiced strong support. Over the past week, however, Ardern has moved towards a much closer alignment with America.