America the Undefended: The Flawed Assumption at the Heart of US Homeland Defense
ML Cavanaugh | 06.22.21
Just before COVID-19 shuttered the world, I submitted an essay to a publication. The editor kindly dismissed the essay in large part over my inclusion of one historical fact about New Zealand. I had written,
New Zealand hasn’t always been safe. Many have chosen to forget, but Aotearoa (the Maori term for the land today known as “New Zealand”) was invaded in the mid-nineteenth century. Thousands were killed in the multi-decades-long colonial wars that resulted in the Maori losing their land. The more-recent political entity known as “New Zealand” faced potential invasion in the mid-twentieth century. When the Japanese threat came, the inhabitants of New Zealand again weren’t prepared for external threats.
His reason to cut this specific paragraph and ultimately kill the piece? “I’m just not convinced that history is relevant to the present.”
https://mwi.usma.edu/america-the-undefended-the-flawed-assumption-at-the-heart-of-us-homeland-defense/
