Anzus Security Treaty

ANZUS refers to the security treaty signed in 1951 by Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. It is a military alliance that currently binds Australia and the United States and Australia and New Zealand together on defense planning issues in the Pacific. New Zealand and the United States are no longer mutually under the governance of ANZUS owing to a 1984–1985 dispute between the two nations over visiting rights for nuclear-armed or -powered American naval vessels at New Zealand ports. Regular meetings between the U.S. secretary of state and the Australian minister for foreign affairs take place annually. These bilateral meetings replaced the original ANZUS Council of Foreign Ministers meetings. ANZUS, unlike the North Atlantic Treaty Organization alliance system, does not have an integrated ...