Bryant Harris is a former journalist with more than a decade covering U.S. foreign and defense policy from the White House and Capitol Hill. He is now pursuing a Master of Strategic Studies at Victoria University of Wellington, and is the author of Rebuilding New Zealand’s Navy for Security, Not Aggression (Center for International Policy, 17 September 2026).
Harris joins us on the sliding-doors decision in front of New Zealand: replace the aging ANZAC frigates Te Kaha and Te Mana with new high-end warships, or build a navy for home waters, the Pacific, and disaster relief instead of distant coalition war. The conversation turns on cost, crews the navy does not have, a poll in which more New Zealanders see the United States as a threat than China, and what veto Wellington still has if two new frigates are built to sail in someone else’s fight.
Podcast Details: 42 min | Released 4 October, 2026 | Bryant Harris – Former journalist covering U.S. foreign and defense policy from the White House and Capitol Hill; Master of Strategic Studies candidate at Victoria University of Wellington; author of Rebuilding New Zealand’s Navy for Security, Not Aggression.
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