This paper will examine the interrelationships between the position, role and performance of New Zealand in the global economy. In particular, the paper deals with the challenges faced by New Zealand which are associated with its economic geography, and examines how these challenges are mediated both in terms of external international economic issues and also internal interregional economic issues. It will be argued that both the internal and external responses of New Zealand to these issues are interconnected with basically the same processes, and the identification of such interconnections will help us to understand how New Zealand will evolve over the coming decades.