In 1965, New Zealand relinquished its dominion over the Cook Islands to the islanders themselves. In June 2001 the Cook Islands saw fit to celebrate this occasion with a host of festivities. While this may seem relatively normal to most, the fact the New Zealand Prime Minister was the guest of honor at these celebrations may make one stop and think why the people of the Cook Islands would want to commemorate such a juncture by inviting their former ruler back to the dinner table.
The reason? The Cook Islands has over the past 35 years enjoyed a unique relationship with New Zealand founded upon mutual respect for each countries position. That mutual respect has served the Cook Islands well with New Zealand but the Cook Islands is equally concerned about its relationship with other nations. These include the "big boys" of its global neighborhood, those countries that in turn have determined that the Cook Islands should appear on the black lists produced by the OECD and the FATF.
