Small Powers and Strategic Competition in the Indo-Pacific
St Margaret’s College, 27–29 June 2025
Registrations will open in mid-April.
Great-power competition between China and United States (and the latter’s allies) has been intensifying since the late 2010s, centring on the strategic space of the Indo-Pacific. Furthermore, the international rules-based order seems to have unravelled quickly since Russia’s war on Ukraine and the inauguration of the second Trump administration. How have, and how should, small powers, constituting the vast majority of states, respond to these momentous developments in international affairs?
This year’s Otago Foreign Policy School, bringing together a unique set of academics and practitioners, deals with the agency of small powers amidst international order transition. Examining state agency at the bilateral, regional and global levels, the conference will focus on the experiences of New Zealand, Pacific Island Countries, as well as small powers in the Indian Ocean region and Southeast Asia. The 59th Otago Foreign Policy School will also host a roundtable commemorating 50 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and ASEAN.
Key themes of the School, covered through keynote talks and interactive sessions, are the following:
- Small States’ Agency and International Order Transition: Theoretical and Conceptual Perspectives
- New Zealand’s Agency in International Affairs
- Small States’ Agency at the Regional and Global Levels: Evidence from the Pacific Islands Region
- Small States’ Agency and Strategic Competition in other World Regions
- New Zealand-ASEAN Relations at 50
List of speakers
- Rt. Hon. Winston Peters, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wellington
- Professor Kai He, Griffith University, Brisbane
- Professor Patrick Köllner, German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and University of Hamburg
- Associate Professor Sandra Tarte, University of the South Pacific, Suva
- Dr Iati Iati, Victoria University of Wellington (TBC)
- Dr Sarina Theys, University of the South Pacific, Suva
- Professor David Capie, Victoria University of Wellington (TBC)
- Ms Suzannah Jessep, Chief Executive, Asia New Zealand Foundation, Wellington
- H.E. Mazita Marzuki, High Commissioner of Malaysia to New Zealand, Wellington
- Mr Sam Sachdeva, Newsroom, Wellington
- Ms Maty Nikkhou-O’Brien, Executive Director, Diplosphere, Wellington (via Zoom)
- Dr Nilanthi Samaranayake, United States Institute of Peace, Washington (via Zoom)
- Professor Kuik Cheng-Chwee, National University of Malaysia
- Associate Professor Anna Powles, Massey University
- Dr Marco de Jong, Auckland University of Technology
Programme
A draft programme will be announced in mid-April.
Sponsors
- Delegation of the European Union to New Zealand, Wellington
- German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA)
- Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Canberra
- University of Otago