Nation states and regional organisations have launched ‘Indo-Pacific’ strategies with increasing frequency in recent years. New Zealand is part of the trend, with former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern outlining the values underpinning her Government’s approach to the Indo-Pacific as an ‘area of interest’ for New Zealand at the NZIIA conference in 2021. This comes at a time when external powers view the south west Pacific region as an increasingly important part of broader regional strategies.

But what is the ‘Indo-Pacific’? How does an Indo-Pacific strategy operate in practice? Is it, as critics claim, driven by great power competition, encouraging India and South East Asia into a western alliance against China? Or is the Indo-Pacific a useful vehicle to bring together the world’s most populous societies, dynamic economies, and largest carbon emitters on areas of common concern. Are Indo-Pacific strategies making the world more stable or putting us on a path towards conflict? And how should a small nation such as New Zealand respond? This expert panel investigates.

Moderator – Dr Manjeet Pardesi, Associate Professor of International Relations. Te Herenga Waka Victoria University of Wellington
Dr Anna Powles, Senior Lecturer, Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies.
Dr Bryce Wakefield, National Executive Director, Australian Institute of International Affairs
Dr Luqman-nul Hakim, Director, Institute of International Studies (IIS), Universitas Gadjah Mada, Indonesia
Ambassador Marc Abensour, Ambassador for the Indo-Pacific, France

Many of our most pressing problems are global in nature. Climate change, tech disruption, supply chain break downs, health pandemics, social inequalities, and great power competition all clearly require international solutions. Despite this need for collaboration and understanding, introverted nationalism, disinformation and populism have swept many parts of the world in recent years, polarising and poisoning debate on international affairs and seemingly making the world a less stable place.

What can Governments, businesses and civil society do to remedy this? What role can traditional news media play, in the era of social networking and AI? How should societies like New Zealand respond to ensure citizens are informed about international affairs? Our expert panel discusses these questions and more.

Moderator – Marg Joiner, Partner, Senate SHJ
Edward Carr, Deputy Editor, The Economist
Josie Pagani, media commentator and expert in geopolitics, aid and development
Sir Peter Gluckman, Director, Koi Tu: Centre For Informed Futures
Barbara Dreaver , Pacific Correspondent, TVNZ

The 2020 COVID 19 Pandemic disrupted the entire world economy, international relations and the daily lives of virtually everyone on the planet. Global GDP contracted by 20 percent in a matter of weeks, supply chains were ripped asunder and, three and half years since the Pandemic started, the effects are still with us. As an open trading nation reliant on export industries, New Zealand’s economy has been deeply affected. Efforts to reconnect New Zealand businesses with world markets seem to be hampered by great power competition and Bloc formation, trade protection, inflation and problems afflicting multilateral institutions such as the World Trade Organisation.

In the face of such challenges, what can New Zealand Inc do to reconnect with the world, in an economic sense? Our expert panel investigates.

Moderator – Charlie Gao, Director, North Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence
HE Nina Obermaier, Ambassador of the EU to New Zealand
Sarah Salmond, Partner at MinterEllisonRuddWatts
Juan Carlos Baker, CEO & Founding Partner, Ansley International Consultants

In the past 50 years Aotearoa New Zealand has strived to transform relations with its Tangata Whenua. A major part of this has been the Treaty of Waitangi settlement process, which has sought to redress wrongs perpetuated by the Crown during colonisation. Alongside this has been efforts to improve the economic, social and political wellbeing of Maori and incorporate Maori kaupapa into public life and governance. Efforts have also been made to improve relations with other ethnicities in Aotearoa, including Pasifika peoples.

But how does all of this translate into New Zealand’s foreign policy and relations with external countries? Does it help perceptions of New Zealand abroad? Is New Zealand doing enough to help indigenous causes regionally or globally? Can lessons from New Zealand’s approach to its indigenous peoples be used to good effect elsewhere around the world? And are there approaches being applied elsewhere that could be applied here? This expert panel discusses these questions and more.

Moderator – David Vaeafe, Executive Director, Pacific Cooperation Foundation
Carrie Stoddart-Smith, Founder and Principal, OpinioNative
Teresa Tepania-Ashton MNZM, UNICEF Aotearoa Director of Advocacy and Programmes
Hon Chris Finlayson KC, Barrister and former Government Minister

Adapting to and mitigating climate change requires international solutions. Yet the progress towards these seems painfully slow, beset by national and corporate interests, political opposition and, at times, a simple lack of action. What needs to happen to get the international community moving faster towards climate solutions that will benefit the Pacific region? What role can New Zealand play in this process? How can New Zealand Inc work together on the world stage to make our country, the Pacific region and the world a more environmentally sustainable place? This expert panel discusses possible solutions, particularly focussed on the Pacific region.

Moderator Vernon Rive, Associate Professor, Auckland Law School
Golriz Ghahraman MP, Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand spokesperson for foreign affairs
Peter Rudd, Executive Director, Council for International development
Schannel van Dijken, Marine Program Director, Conservation International and President of the Samoa Voyaging Society.

Digital disruption is affecting international relations in rapid and profound ways, including in diplomacy, trade and commerce, law, security, and politics. Geopolitical tensions and competition appear to be fragmenting the internet and technology supply chains. Online extremism and cyber-crime are major challenges and social media networks are accused of polarising societies and proliferating disinformation. And more disruption is on the way, in form of AI among other trends. But it is not all gloom. Digital disruption also brings opportunities, including for countries like New Zealand that, in some respects, has been near the vanguard of responding to digital change in international affairs. What are the key trends in digital disruption globally? And what more can New Zealand do to respond, in both policy and commercial terms? What can be learnt from the experiences of other countries? This expert panel discusses this and more.

Moderator Stephanie Honey, Associate Director, New Zealand International Business Forum
David Reid, Chief Advisor, Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
Janine Grainger, Co-Founder and CEP of Easy Crypto
Linda Jenkinson, Global Entrepreneur

Many assumptions about defence and security in the Pacific have been swept aside by international events in recent years. Increased geopolitical tensions and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have caused many countries to revaluate their defence priorities, including in New Zealand where a defence policy review is underway. Unlike previous periods of great power competition, the Pacific region is increasingly seen as strategically important by policymakers in the Global North, which brings both threats and opportunities. Emergence of new minilateral organisations such as AUKUS and the Quad pose new questions, as do expansion of older organisations such as NATO. Closer to home, incidents such as the Christchurch mosque shootings, prevalence of extreme views, and the effects of climate change among other factors have encouraged the creation of a New Zealand National Security Strategy. Is New Zealand doing enough to respond to the changed circumstances? What are its neighbours and allies doing in response? What can be done to encourage stability and security in this region? This expert panel will address these questions and more.

Moderator – Professor Rouben Azizian, Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies and Co-Chair, NZIIA Auckland Branch
Tim van den Molen MP, Opposition Spokesperson for Defence and Veterans Affairs
Professor Bethan Greener, Massey University
Randy Rotte, Senior Director International Business Development India, Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia

The international system built since the end of the Second World War is under pressure from multiple directions. The United Nations is reeling from a member of the Security Council, Russia, invading another sovereign country and also beset by inaction and lack of funding in a range of areas. The World Trade Organisation and other economic bodies are waning, while China and other powers are attempting to shape such organisations to suit their own interests.

Regional organisations are also troubled, with populism and nationalism fostering division in the European Union (including Brexit). ASEAN is grappling with a crisis in Myanmar, the rising influence of China and increased great power competition. Where does all of this leave a small country like New Zealand, which is reliant on the international system to maintain a ‘rules-based order’? How can these multilateral and regional organisations navigate the minefields to lead the world to a more stable place? Our expert panel ponders these questions.

Moderator – Colin Keating, Former Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the United Nations and on the Security Council
Victoria Hallum, Deputy Secretary Multilateral and Legal Affairs Group at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Dr. Kuik Cheng-Chwee, Professor in International Relations and Head of the Centre for Asian Studies, Institute of Malaysian and International Studies
Professor Richard G. Whitman, Professor of Politics and International Relations, University of Kent (United Kingdom).
a Senior representative from the U.S. Embassy