Asia:NZ Track 2 briefing
Asia:NZ’s Track II programme hosted a meeting of members of the Asia:NZ Track II network and register in Wellington in late March.
The foundation’s executive director, Dr Richard Grant, presented a brief overview of the activities and goals of Asia:NZ’s Track II programme, including recent dialogues conducted with Vietnam, China, Japan and ASEAN. Later the floor was open to discussion on processes and topics of interest relating to regional dialogues that involve New Zealand Track II practitioners. Dr Grant noted that the foundation's aim was to set up a series of dialogues with selected countries in Asia and that Asia:NZ was not seeking to supplant or replace existing institutional dialogues, nor those that individual organisations or academics might have.
Among the main goals of the Asia:NZ Track II programme are to deepen the pool of expertise on Asia-Pacific international issues and relations, and to broaden contacts between New Zealand and the countries in the Asian region by furthering links between our Track II community and foreign experts. Existing institutional partnerships will be acknowledged and, it is hoped, expanded.
Among the organisations with which we will continue to build and strengthen partnerships are globally recognised think tanks such as the Shanghai Institute of International Studies (SIIS), the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs (CPIFA), Institute for Defence Studies and Analysis (IDSA) in New Delhi, the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the ASEAN Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ASEAN-ISIS) and others.
Existing alongside established institutional partnerships and relying on informal, unofficial channels of dialogue and co-operation, our Track II programme works to affirm and deepen New Zealand’s presence in the region, and to help establish links between individuals and think tanks for the purpose of furthering research and knowledge exchange in the field of Asia-Pacific international relations.
The Track II2 meeting participants agreed that there is a definite scope for New Zealand’s participation in Track II processes in the region.. In the light of new, non-traditional security (NTS) issues coming to the fore in the regional agenda – climate change, energy security, food security, environmental and disaster management – New Zealand has the opportunity to make an even greater contribution. Various participants in the discussion confirmed their experience of Asian institutions seeking specific New Zealand perspectives on tackling the new issues facing the region.
A range of further Track II activities and dialogues are planned on an ongoing basis. Asia:NZ Online will continue to keep you informed.
We hope to grow our existing Track II register as a directory of expertise and source of representatives for regional dialogues. If you are already actively involved in New Zealand’s Track II activities, or have the specialist background and aspiration to be involved, then you are invited to express interest in joining the register: here's how.
