Balaji Chandramohan –
The Foreign Policy School of the Otago University will commence its 50th year of establishment this month, as a fitting celebration of which, the Institution has organised a Conference that will see an assembly of achievers, political and economic leaders and academics and alumni.
The theme of the three-day Conference beginning on June 26 is ‘New Zealand and the World: Past, Present and Future in the 21st century.’
Inaugural Address
Professor Terence Wesley-Smith, Director of the Centre for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawaii, Manoa will deliver the inaugural address at the opening session on June 27 at St Margaret’s College near the Otago University.
“The implications of the rise of China in the Pacific Region’ will be the central theme of his address.
Enlightened Speakers
Among the others speakers are Associate Professor Jenny Bryant-Tokalau Te Tumu, (School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies), Professor Robert Patman, Department of Politics, Ernest Bower, Senior Adviser and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies, Centre for Strategic and International Studies and Professor Robert Patman, Department of Politics (all from Otago University), Britain’s High Commissioner to New Zealand Victoria Treadel, Andrew Needs, Director, Pacific Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Representative, Dr Gerard Finin, Resident Co-Director, Pacific Islands Development Programme (PIDP), East-West Centre.
Critical developments
In a note about the forthcoming Conference, Organisers said that a number of critical developments and issues in the Pacific are drawing attention to the nature of Pacific geopolitics in the 21st century.
“In the last five decades, New Zealand, a sparsely populated and geographically isolated society has faced a period of substantial international readjustment. The advent of globalisation has coincided with profound changes in New Zealand’s national identity and its role in the world. These include adoption of a non-nuclear and regionally focused security policy, sweeping deregulation of the economy, recognition of the special constitutional and cultural position of Maori people, new trade and diplomatic links with the Asia-Pacific region, and the gradual attainment of close ties with two superpowers, the United States and China,” it said.
Serious Challenges
“At the same time, New Zealand has seen a sharp rise of income inequality, increased costs in the provision of housing and education, mounting concerns about environmental decline, and growing fears that the Country’s sovereignty is being eroded by New Zealand’s participation in multilateral trade deals and multinational intelligence-sharing arrangements,” the note added.
The conference will serve as a platform to discuss some of the challenges to be faced by New Zealand in the dynamic fluid changes in geo-politics of the 21st century.
Balaji Chandramohan is our Correspondent based in Delhi.
