UC Connect public lecture: New Zealand’s place in a changing world

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How does a small country like New Zealand chart a course in the choppy waters of international relations? How does the rapidly changing world affect New Zealand?

In an upcoming UC Connect public talk, Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Ben King will discuss the current environment for New Zealand’s international relations, and how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) has adapted the way it conducts New Zealand’s business on the international stage.

In the UC Connect lecture, New Zealand’s place in a changing world, Mr King will talk about the Ministry’s role in keeping New Zealanders safe and prosperous, as MFAT marks its 75th anniversary.

“New Zealand conducts its international relations within a strategic framework. This framework includes strategic bolstering of International laws and institutions, environment and climate change, security and economic resilience” Mr King says.

“Our international relationships must be based on a portfolio of relationships. These include our traditional partners and also relations with new rising powers. We focus closely on the Asia-Pacific, and on our near neighbours in the South Pacific.”

Mr King was appointed Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade in September 2017. Prior to that he was New Zealand’s Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia and Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic. He has also worked as Foreign Policy Adviser to the New Zealand Prime Minister.

Mr King has had postings at the New Zealand Embassies in Washington DC and in Riyadh, as well as at the New Zealand High Commission in Canberra. Earlier in his career, he was Private Secretary and Press Secretary to the Minister for International Trade. He is a graduate of the University of Waikato, and of the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

UC Connect public lecture: New Zealand’s place in a changing world, by Ben King, Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade, MFAT, 7pm – 8pm, Thursday 20 September, 2018, C Block lecture theatres at the University of Canterbury, Ilam campus, Christchurch.