Prof Robert Patman opened proceedings for the weekend symposium held at the University of Otago’s St Margaret’s College last night.
He said the rules-based international order, which New Zealand had been one of the strongest proponents of, was starting to fray under a ‘‘multitude of events’’.
These ranged from the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the US-Israeli war on Iran.
‘‘I think to some extent, our sense of identity at home is linked to our belief that the international arena should also be characterised by rules and that has been the traditional, that has been the post-1945 approach of all governments irrespective of whether they’re Labour or National-led.
‘‘The reason we went to this theme is that we think New Zealand is facing one of the most challenging international environments but it’s important, first of all, to have a discussion, a debate about these issues in New Zealand so that we can make informed choices.’’
Speakers at the school will include Ukrainian Prism Foreign Policy Council security studies and global outreach director Dr Hanna Shelest, Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (Heidelberg) research fellow Dr Malcolm Jorgensen, Peking University School of International Studies diplomacy chair Prof Zhang Qingmin, University of Exeter political scientist Prof Ilan Pappe and Denison University economist Associate Prof Fadhel Kaboub.
‘‘We’re considering this topic in a multidisciplinary fashion.
‘‘We’ve got people who are economic specialists. We’ve got people who are international lawyers.
‘‘We’ve got people who are diplomatic specialists.
‘‘It’s internationalist in orientation but also it has a New Zealand angle as well.’’
Prof Patman said many of the delegates would describe the situation ‘‘as one of both alarm and hope’’.
‘‘Many of the key problems faced by the world, whether they be climate change, pandemics, transnational terrorism, or even economic contagion, the sort we’ve seen from the Middle East — when the United States attacked Iran, Iran retaliated — have had cascading effects for the global economy.
‘‘The Ukraine conflict has had the same impact as well.
‘‘In other words, the world is seeing a proliferation of trans-boundary problems, which don’t respect borders.’’
They could only be solved by multilateral solutions, Prof Patman said.
The ‘‘great powers’’, such as China or the United States, could not unilaterally or even collectively fix problems like climate change.
‘‘It means the rest of the world, small powers and middle powers, they have to be part of the solution to these pressing problems that now face the world.
‘‘In short, I believe, a ray of hope is that kicking and screaming, many countries are going to have to co-operate in order to solve these problems.
‘‘Otherwise, they will simply not solve them.’’
Prof Patman hoped the 60th Otago Foreign Policy School, much like the very first, would be forward-thinking.
‘‘Arnold Entwisle, the founder . . . anticipated in 1966 that New Zealand would have to develop the capability for a more independently- fashioned foreign policy.
‘‘He was right in that.
‘‘For decades, we’ve taken it for granted.
‘‘We could base our foreign policy, the foundations of it, on the aspiration, the vision to have a more co-operative world based on rules, treaties and multilateralism.
‘‘After all, that’s worked very well for us.’’
