2017
Money, military keys to Aussie foreign policy
15 December 2017
Why New Zealand success depends a great deal on that of our biggest neighbour. Commentary by CSS Senior Fellow, Terence O'Brien, published in the Dominion Post.
The humanitarian crisis on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border
4 December 2017
On 20 November, CSS hosted a well-attended talk by Corinne Ambler, a New Zealander recently returned from working for the International Red Cross on the Myanmar-Bangladesh border.
Successful seminar on possible diplomatic solutions to the North Korean nuclear issue
13 November 2017
As a key contributor to Victoria’s mission as a global-civic university, the Centre of Strategic Studies (CSS) benefits greatly from its physical and intellectual location at the heart of a rich Wellington ecosystem relating to strategic and international affairs.
That ecosystem encompasses government agencies, the diplomatic community, non-governmental organisations and civil society as well as Victoria’s staff and students. All those sectors were represented at a stimulating seminar on 3 November in the University’s Council Chamber examining one of the Asia-Pacific’s most intractable challenges: the North Korean nuclear issue.
Read the full story in Vic News.
Will Ardern government transform foreign and defence policies
2 November 2017
New Zealand's new prime minister will need to be a very close student of external issues at a time of significant global flux, writes Victoria's Professor of Strategic Studies Robert Ayson.
New Zealand’s domestic politics have been transformed by the 2017 general election. But the same can’t be assumed for its foreign and defence policies. Not even growing talk of war on the Korean peninsula could puncture the campaign’s relentlessly internal focus. Incoming prime minister Jacinda Ardern’s central message is economic security for all New Zealanders. That means housing, health and education rather than New Zealand’s place in the world.
Read the full story by Professor Ayson in Vic News.
NZ linked to North Korea cyber attacks in report
25 August 2017
CSS Research and Strategy Fellow Van Jackson was quoted at length in this recent story linking North Korean cyber activities to New Zealand. He says there's less than meets the eye.
Read the full story on Newsroom.
CSS research appears in prestigious IISS journal
3 April 2017
Professor Robert Ayson and Dr Manjeet Pardesi have a new publication out in the prestigious IISS journal Survival. In it, they argue that while the United States remains the strongest military power in the Asia-Pacific region, China has developed an advantage in using coercive diplomacy to change the regional order. While America's traditional practices of coercion remain effective in helping to deter war, China has been able to advance its position short of the actual use of violent force.
A short version of their argument with a link to the longer article can be found here.
Reflections on the Security Council Term 2015–16
15 March 2017
On 15 March, the Centre for Strategic Studies hosted a special roundtable on ‘New Zealand’s term on the United Nations Security Council 2015-16’. Speakers included Gerard van Bohemen, NZ’s Permanent Representative in New York and Bernadette Cavanagh, Deputy Secretary of Multilateral Affairs MFAT, and Nick Walbridge, recently 
returned from eight years at the New York mission. The discussions covered some of the highest profile issues that came before the Council during New Zealand’s term, including the war in Syria and the passage of Security Council resolution 2334 on Israel-Palestine.
An open and free-ranging discussion also addressed New Zealand’s engagement with African states and some of 
the challenges encountered while advancing New Zealand’s goals including SIDS security issues and efforts to promote new norms protecting healthcare facilities in conflict zones. In the second part of the roundtable Simon Draper talked about lessons learned from leading the campaign for the Security Council between 2012-14.
Images: (1) Participants at the UNSC Roundtable. (2) Dr Joanna Mossop, VUW Business School with Dr Christopher Michaelsen, University of New South Wales. (3) Gerard van Bohemen with Simon Draper, Executive Director, Asia New Zealand Foundation.
‘Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy’ presentation to NZIIA
1 February 2017
Professor of Strategic Studies, Robert Ayson, presented a talk on Donald Trump’s Foreign Policy: Early Implications for New Zealand (PDF 109KB) to the Wellington Branch of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs. A recording of the presentation is available on YouTube.