I always wait until the last moment to complete my year-end lists because in this job the unexpected is to be expected. Who knows what the final days of a year will bring? As it’s now almost 11:00 p.m. on New Year’s Eve, though, I think it’s probably safe to close the books on 2012. So, back to the countdown …

5. Pacific Islands Forum

A clear choice for the Top Ten list again this year was the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), held on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands. Trumping our participation last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the largest and highest-level U.S. delegation ever to attend the annual event in its 41-year history. For the second year in a row my Embassy hosted the delegation because the Cook Islands is within our area of accreditation.

With the Secretary and me were the Governor of American Samoa Togiola Tulafono, several of my fellow Ambassadors, U.S. Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Locklear, Coast Guard Commander Rear Admiral Charles Ray, and other senior officials from the White House, USAID, Peace Corps, Department of State, Department of the Interior, Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and several other agencies.

The delegation came to work. As we did last year, my team and I scheduled our various principals for more than 120 separate meetings and public appearances with officials from other nations, NGOs, multilateral institutions, businesses, and citizens groups. It was a punishing but highly productive schedule for the 48 hours or so that most of our visitors were in town, as well as for the week that my team spending preparing for the deluge of arrivals.

The Secretary had perhaps the busiest agenda, packed with individual and group discussions with Pacific heads of government and heads of state, remarks to the Post-Forum Dialogue plenary, a commemoration of America’s historic and ongoing peace and security partnerships in the Pacific, and other events focused on trade promotion, gender equality, and fisheries. And she found time to chat with Cook citizens on the street during a couple of walk-abouts between meetings, which set off an island-wide “Auntie Hillary” frenzy.

In all, over the course of the PIF, Secretary Clinton launched a large number of new initiatives of mutual benefit to the island nations and the United States on issues of regional security, sustainable development, marine protection, climate change, gender equality, education, and economic partnership. Oriented toward capacity building, people-to-people engagement, and entrepreneurial self-reliance, the initiatives provide a recipe for empowerment, not dependency. For a full list of the extensive business accomplished, see my September post about the PIF.

4. Auckland Consulate General Restructuring

As I’ve discussed before, we’ve been engaged in a good bit of internal restructuring at the Mission to bring our programs, staffing, resources, and methods into alignment with current, rather than legacy, circumstances and priorities. That’s all much more difficult than you might imagine, but it’s essential to becoming more effective at our work. Simply put, there wouldn’t be a credible Top Ten list without our restructuring activity. In 2011 we focused on retooling the Embassies in Wellington and Apia (which is why “Embassy Restructuring” was #4 of my 2011 Top Ten). In 2012 we focused intensely on the Consulate General in Auckland.

When I presented my credentials in December 2009, we had a full consular team but just one catch-all program staff position in Auckland despite that city representing more than a third of New Zealand’s population. (The population percentage increases even further if one includes the greater metro area, which I  define as the places within an easy day’s commute of the Auckland CBD.) Such a skeletal deployment makes very little sense and certainly impaired our effectiveness.

Over the past year we’ve corrected the problem by creating new portfolios and moving several existing American-officer and locally-engaged positions from Wellington to Auckland. In doing so we have rebalanced our program staff to achieve a roughly 50/50 split between our two facilities, and have created in Auckland fully functioning economic, political, public diplomacy, and public affairs teams. I am particularly excited about positions we’ve created in Auckland for university outreach, educational advising, and Pacific communities engagement. The changes are already producing results, and will pay dividends far into the future.

3. Secretary Leon Panetta’s Visit to New Zealand

We hosted our third visit of the year by a senior member of the Cabinet when Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta came to Auckland in September. The first American Secretary of Defense to visit New Zealand in more than 30 years, Secretary Panetta engaged in a busy two days of meetings, including with Prime Minister John Key, Minister of Defence Dr. Jonathan Coleman, and Leader of the Opposition David Shearer.

The visit takes a place high on the 2012 Top Ten list because it was emblematic of the tangible revitalization of security relations between the two countries over the past two years.

In June, Secretary Panetta and Minister Coleman signed in DC the Washington Declaration, a short statement that expressed our joint commitment to expand defense cooperation and establish regular senior-level strategic security policy dialogues.

Earlier in the year New Zealand hosted both the first U.S.-N.Z. joint air exercises and the first U.S.-N.Z. joint army/marine exercises in more than a quarter century.

Also this year New Zealand was invited for the first time ever to send a ship to participate in the U.S.-sponsored RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime exercise.

Such engagement is of significant benefit to both our societies, as well as to our neighbors. In an unpredictable world, enhanced coordination and interoperability will allow us to respond together more quickly and effectively to natural disasters, humanitarian crises, and other exigencies here in the Pacific. Compelling evidence of what I mean was our joint U.S. Coast Guard / Royal New Zealand Air Force mission a year ago to provide emergency fresh water supplies to Tokelau, thus averting a crisis.

The steps taken this year were wise, long-overdue, and mutually beneficial. Considered together, the Washington Declaration and the Wellington Declaration provide a framework for engagement that both looks confidently forward and reaffirms the deep, vibrant partnership that our two countries have historically maintained.

2. Celebration of Samoa’s 50th Independence Day

On June 1, 2012, the nation formerly known as Western Samoa celebrated its 50th Independence Day. As you may recall from several of my posts that month, our Embassy Apia team put together an impressive schedule of substantive and ceremonial events to mark the august occasion and underscore the long, deep history of U.S.-Samoa friendship. In fact, the United States had the largest, most diverse, and most vibrant international presence at the independence celebrations.

I led an official Presidential Delegation appointed by the White House which included, among others, Admiral Cecil Haney (Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet), Congressional Delegate Eni Faleomavaega, and my colleague Ambassador Frankie Reed (our current American Ambassador to Suva, and former Chargé d’Affaires at Embassy Apia). We brought with us the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Chafee (with 350 sailors on board), the N.O.A.A. climate research vessel Ka’imimoana, and several Coast Guard and Navy aircraft for ceremonial fly-overs.

Our U.S. Navy 7th Fleet Band paraded and played concerts on Upolu and Savaii. The acclaimed African American step group Step Afrika! performed at schools, in church halls, and on stage at the national variety show. The Navy musicians, steppers, Peace Corps volunteers, my Embassy colleagues, and I all marched together in the official procession on Independence Day. And we hosted several dinners and receptions at our new Chargé Residence, including for the Samoa Chamber of Commerce, the large number of fellow Americans from American Samoa who attended the festivities, and senior government officials.

In terms of substantive activity, we announced our plans to build a new district medical center near the airport. We awarded several economic development grants. And Prime Minister Tuilaepa and I signed a Shiprider Agreement which will allow the Government of Samoa to place Samoan law enforcement officers on American Coast Guard and Navy ships passing through Samoan waters. Those officers will be able to direct the interdiction, arrest, and fining of foreign vessels engaged in illegal commercial fishing, trafficking in persons, or trafficking in prohibited substances, all serious problems in parts of the Pacific.

One of the highlights of our program was a reception aboard the USS Chafee after we signed the Shiprider Agreement on the foredeck. The 7th Fleet Band entertained guests including the Prime Minister, Head of State, King of Tonga, Governor-General of New Zealand, Governor of American Samoa, Deputy Prime Minister, several Cabinet Ministers, senior officials from French Polynesia, and heads of NGOs active in Samoa.

Our commemoration of Samoa’s 50th year of independence was, in my view, the most impressive and successful effort in the history of Embassy Apia. My colleagues underscored meaningful historical linkages and ongoing collaborations, while taking significant steps to deepen and expand relations further. Our Apia team planned for many months and then, along with visiting support from Wellington and Auckland, worked 15-hour days for more than a week to implement the program. It was the kind of effort that puts a big smile on your face, and easily ranks as one of our top two Mission efforts of 2012.

1. Celebration of the 70th Anniversary of US-NZ Bilateral Relations
and the Arrival of American Forces during World War II

In a photo-finish with the Samoa 50th, the top slot on my 2012 list goes to the Mission’s extensive commemorations of two highly significant milestones in shared Kiwi/American history. In February we marked the 70th anniversary of the establishment of formal diplomatic relations between the two countries, and in June we marked the 70th anniversary of the arrival of American military forces in New Zealand at the request of Prime Minister Peter Fraser after the outbreak of World War II in the Pacific.

It’s difficult to talk briefly about the anniversaries because the program spanned virtually the entire year, starting with social media efforts in February and concluding with the Marine Ball in November. I’ve already written more than a dozen blog posts about various elements of the commemorations, so I won’t recount the details again here.

I’ll simply say that, inter alia, we produced stamps, minted coins (at left), sponsored a 1940s video contest for students, held a memorial concert at Old St. Pauls, took the U.S. Marine Forces Pacific Band on a 3-week concert tour of cities and towns that had hosted Americans during the war, and held large 1942-themed Independence Day receptions for almost 1,500 folks in Wellington, Auckland, and Christchurch.

We talked live and online about the importance of shared history … Walter Nash’s arrival in DC to establish New Zealand’s first ever diplomatic mission abroad … the bedrock relationship formed when more than 150,000 American servicemen and women came to New Zealand during the war … and the shared service and sacrifice of our respective forebears during some of the darkest days of the prior century.

The Government of New Zealand held a wreath-laying ceremony at the National War Memorial attended by the Prime Minister, Governor-General, Leader of the Opposition, Minister of Defence, and other dignitaries. There was a moving sunset retreat on the Parliament forecourt with the Prime Minister and Governor-General, followed by a Parliamentary reception. Commemorative statements were read in the House, and New Zealand Post issued a set of anniversary stamps. The Kapiti Council and Kapiti U.S. Marines Trust held a series of additional events.

There was great warmth in the celebration of our shared history, which is the rock-solid foundation on which the relationship between the two nations still stands, whatever the vagaries of the politics of the day. Seventy years on, Kiwis and Americans still stand shoulder to shoulder on the issues that matter the most in the world. We advocate together for universal human rights from a position of deeply held, shared civic values. We still serve and sacrifice together in peacekeeping and reconstruction efforts around the world.

And we work closely together on a wide variety of economic development, climate change, disaster response, gender equality, rule of law, political empowerment, and other projects. In a show-me-the-money era when values are often viewed as quaint inconveniences, it’s important to remind ourselves that first principles rather than pecuniary gain bind our relationship together.

Of course, we don’t always agree on everything. But really, that’s to be expected. If we don’t occasionally squabble, then we aren’t being honest with each other. What matters is not the 5% or so of the time that we disagree, but the 95% of the time that our instincts, interests, and priorities naturally align. And what matters most of all is how we deal with disagreement when it occurs.

By those measures and all accounts, 2012 was a very good year.

*  *  *

That’s it for now. I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief tour through the highlights of another gratifying year at American Missions New Zealand and Samoa. Our 2010 was an excellent year significantly surpassed by 2011, which in turn has been exceeded by 2012. I’m very much looking forward to the pleasures and challenges of maintaining that steep trajectory in 2013.

Next year brings another couple of special anniversaries. October 12, 2013 marks the 175th anniversary of American diplomatic presence in Aotearoa. On that date in 1838, U.S. Secretary of State John Forsyth commissioned John R. Clendon to be the first United States consul in the lands later to be called New Zealand.

In addition, August will mark the 70th anniversary of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s iconic island-hop trip through the South Pacific during the height of the war. From August 27 through September 2, 1943, Mrs. Roosevelt stopped in New Zealand to tour Red Cross facilities, visit marae, raise the profile of women’s contributions to the war effort, and engage with soldiers and civilians in Auckland, Rotorua, and Wellington.

Plans are afoot …

For now, though, Dr McWaine and I, and everyone else at American Missions New Zealand and Samoa, wish you and yours a very happy, healthy, and rewarding New Year … Kia hari te Tau Hou … Ia manuia le Tausaga Fou … Hau’oli Makahiki Hou.

Our friends from the U.S. Coast Guard visit Samoa regularly as part of their navigation infrastructure, fisheries, search-and-rescue, and security work. Earlier this month my colleague Chad sent me a few photos taken during the most recent visit by the U.S Coast Guard Cutter Walnut. You might remember the Walnut from prior posts because that was the ship that helped us avert a humanitarian crisis in Tokelau by delivering fresh water almost exactly a year ago.

After patrolling the seas and tending navigational aids for an extended period, the ship docked in Apia this month to allow the crew to take a much deserved rest and recuperation break. True to form, though, instead of hitting the beaches several crew members visited Samatau Primary School to talk with students, learn about Samoan culture, and answer questions about the United States and working at sea.

From what Chad tells me, both the crew and the Year 7 & 8 students thoroughly enjoyed the exchange. The crew talked about their jobs and the different places they grew up in the United States. The students practiced their English by making presentations of their own, including about Samoa and their new American friends. There was plenty of discussion.

The students then gave the crew a real taste of true fa’a Samoa. The boys taught the Coast Guard men the fearsome Manu Siva Tau, the war dance and chant performed by Samoan sports teams before their matches. The Samatau girls taught the Coast Guard women the graceful Samoan siva. After the dancing, the sailors learned to make lunch the Samoan way by scraping out coconuts to make cream and roasting breadfruit on an open fire.

It’s clear from the pictures that Chad sent me that everybody had a great time. I’m sure that my friends from the Walnut won’t soon forget their visit to Samatau Primary School. I hope to be in Apia to accompany them to another school when they next visit. We are looking forward to hosting the Coast Guard and other ships more frequently in Apia as a result of the Shiprider Agreement that Samoa and the U.S. signed this past June. I’ll keep you apprised.

One year ago today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Foreign Minister Murray McCully signed the Wellington Declaration, a roadmap for deepening and expanding the bilateral relationship between the United States and New Zealand.

Despite extraneous challenges of various sorts, both governments have pushed forward on the resolutions contained in the Declaration. The past twelve months have been a busy and highly productive period in which the bilateral relationship has moved forward from strength to strength. In fact, in my view, relations are stronger, warmer, and closer than they have been at any time since World War II.

At its heart, the Wellington Declaration reaffirms the close ties between the two countries and establishes a framework for a new strategic partnership. That partnership is to have two fundamental elements … a new focus on practical cooperation in the Pacific region, and enhanced political and expert dialogue. The past year has been a success on both counts.

With respect to cooperation in the Pacific, there have been dozens of tangible, practical, and impactful steps forward. I don’t want to bury you with undue detail or do a clip-and-paste from my prior posts, so I’ll only mention a couple of highlights.

Just last month the US Coast Guard and the New Zealand Defence Force pooled resources on extremely short notice and rushed much needed potable water to the atolls of Tokelau, averting a major crisis. Earlier in the year the HMNZS Canterbury joined the USS Cleveland for Pacific Partnership humanitarian projects in the islands, marking the two countries’ first joint naval operation in almost 30 years.

With respect to enhanced dialogue, there has been a blizzard of meetings, exchanges, and visits … not social calls but substantive interactions focused on regional and global issues, common challenges, problem-solving, and potential joint projects. The two highlights, of course, were Secretary Clinton’s visit to Wellington and Christchurch and Prime Minister Key’s visit to Washington.

The Prime Minister worked through the highest-level schedule one could have in Washington … including discussions with President Obama, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Benjamin Bernanke, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen, and Senators John Kerry, Richard Lugar, and John McCain, among others.

To my knowledge, there has never been a higher-level working reception accorded a Kiwi official. And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully and Defence Minister Dr Wayne Mapp also had busy working visits to Washington during the year, and other officials traveled to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, Honolulu, and Pago Pago.

The traffic has not been one way.

In the year since Secretary Clinton touched down in Wellington, more than 1,100 American officials have come to New Zealand to meet with their counterparts. That is, by several orders of magnitude, the largest number of US Government officials ever to visit in a twelve-month period.

Included in the mix were two special delegations.

In February approximately 100 American government officials, Congressmen, business leaders, and students attended the fourth US-NZ Partnership Forum, in Christchurch. It would be difficult to overstate the strength of the special bonds forged among the American delegates and their Kiwi counterparts when the February 22nd earthquake struck the city during the meetings.

More recently, Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides led the largest and highest-ranking US delegation ever to attend the Pacific Island Forum. The august group included the Governor of American Samoa, Assistant Secretary Kurt Campbell, and dozens of other officials from the Department of State, Department of Defense, White House, USAID, and other agencies. The American attendees divided into subject matter teams and moved through a packed schedule of more than 100 working meetings while in Auckland.

Such official engagement is very important, but the Wellington Declaration stakes out deeper and broader people-to-people ties as the heart of the reinvigorated partnership … just as people-to-people ties have always held the two societies firmly and warmly together despite occasional government-to-government disagreements. To ensure the most inclusive participation, the Declaration specifically calls for efforts to include women, youth, minorities, and future leaders in the process.

People-to-people activity over the past twelve months has been so extensive, diverse, and multifaceted that it is impossible to summarize succinctly. New projects were launched in matters of rugby, social media, art, music, entrepreneurship, faith communities, and indigenous peoples. Additional resources were devoted to existing youth, education, commercial, and cultural programs.

Among the highlights were … the visit of the Space Shuttle Discovery crew … harbor calls in Wellington and Auckland by the California Maritime Academy’s training ship Golden Bear … Hawaii/Aotearoa rugby exchanges … more than a dozen concerts by the Marine Corps Pacific Forces Band … multiple visits by Special Representative to Muslim Communities Farah Pandith …

… large tailgate parties and pep rallies to celebrate the Rugby World Cup … a 3-day future leaders conference for American and Kiwi youth …visits of Hawaiian performers and chefs … reinvigorating the twelve-month student walk-about visa … engaging a full-time Education USA NZ advocate … a new Art in Embassies exhibition … the Solar Decathlon … OutGames events … and much much more.

Yes, indeed, there’s a lot more to say. But it’s Friday afternoon. And I’m already late for the Embassy’s anniversary celebration downstairs in our cantina. So I’ll conclude with the Wellington Declaration’s brief, apt description of the bedrock on which the special relationship between Americans and Kiwis is built:

“New Zealand and the United States are both Pacific nations. Our governments and peoples share a deep and abiding interest in maintaining peace, prosperity, and stability in the region, expanding the benefits of freer and more open trade, and promoting and protecting freedom, democracy, and human rights worldwide. We recall the long history of shared United States and New Zealand sacrifice in battle, and we honor those, past and present, who have borne that sacrifice.

“As we look to the challenges of the 21st century, our shared democratic values and common interests will continue to guide our collective efforts. … Our goal is a partnership for the 21st Century that is flexible, dynamic, and reflects our fundamental beliefs and aspirations.”

The past twelve months have demonstrated persuasively that we are well on our way to achieving that goal. Happy Anniversary, Wellington Declaration.

The motto of the US Coast Guard is Semper Paratus, which translates as “Always Ready” or “Always Prepared.” That ethic was certainly in evidence last week when the USCG Cutter Walnut diverted from a planned mission and instead transported urgently needed water supplies to Tokelau.

As I discussed in a previous post on October 5th, severe drought conditions in Tokelau created critical shortages, leaving Tokelau’s residents with less than a week’s worth of drinking water. Walnut was well placed to assist because it is outfitted with an onboard water desalination plant, routinely carries emergency water supplies, and was already nearby, en route to a port call in Pago Pago.

As we had arranged with our Kiwi friends, Walnut onloaded in Pago Pago several large, empty military water storage containers and a relief team flown up from New Zealand by the Royal New Zealand Air Force. The cutter then made for Tokelau at full speed, stopping at each of the small nation’s three populated coral atolls to deliver tanks and water.

Walnut‘s captain, Lieutenant Commander Brian Huff, tells me that the crew worked hard, and that shifts were arranged so that everyone went ashore to assist on at least one of the atolls. Tokelau residents welcomed the crew with singing, dancing, traditional gifts made from shells and flax, and effusive hospitality. From all the stories I’ve heard, it is clear that the crew was profoundly moved by the beauty of Tokelau, the warmth of the people, and the opportunity to assist in such a powerful way.

One of my favorite stories recounted by the crew concerns a bell. Village elders told Lieutenant Andrea Holt that the Coast Guard had been to Tokelau before, to protect the islands during World War II. They also stated that a Coastie had violated protocol one day by ringing a church bell that was only supposed to be used for calls to prayer. It turned out that the Coastie had just received word of Japan’s surrender, and he rang the bell to celebrate the end of the Pacific War.

Walnut‘s crew was unaware of a Coast Guard presence in the South Pacific during the war, and Lieutenant Holt thought that the elders had confused the Coast Guard with the Navy. Later, however, after completing their work on Atafu, one of the Walnut teams visited the local church. Curious, they looked closely at the church’s main bell and discovered engraving at the very top, readable only through the lens of a digital camera, that said “USCG 1942″.

It remains a mystery how a US Coast Guard bell found new life as a church bell on a South Pacific atoll. The details, though, don’t really matter. The bell’s there … and it’s meaningful … a real goose-bump moment for the crew, encounting a piece of their own history in such a distant place, seventy years after other Coasties had rendered assistance during another time of need.

The several days of relief activity in Tokelau demonstrated the power and importance of practical, flexible collaboration among friends. Desperately needed water was delivered because the US and New Zealand pooled assets and were prepared to interoperate. Plans were made for addressing systemic water shortages going forward. And new friendships were enriched by working together, celebrating cultural touchstones, and rediscovering prior ties.

Semper Paratus.