INSTITUTE NOTES.

• Position: New Zealand Institute of International Affairs - Brief Article

National Office and branch activities.

The main event during June and July was the NZIIA's two-day international seminar on `The Consequences of the East Timor Crisis for Indonesia and the rest of the Asia-Pacific Region including Australia and New Zealand'. This was arranged by the NZIIA, with the co-operation of the AustralAsia Center (in Melbourne), an offshoot of the Asia Society of New York.

With the help of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and of a number of sponsors, we were able to get nine speakers from overseas -- three from Australia and one each from Indonesia, Thailand, China, Japan and the United States -- in addition to three from New Zealand. The overseas participants included the President of the National Council for Timorese Liberation, Xanana Gusmao.

The papers delivered at the seminar are being collected and edited by Bruce Brown. With additional help from MFAT, we hope to get the book published within about three months. Copies will then be available from the National Office at $25 each.

The NZIIA is indebted to all the organisations which gave financial support for the seminar. The grant of $10,000 made at an early stage by the Peace and Disarmament Education Trust got the project off the ground; the encouragement we received from the Asia 2000 Foundation made it fly. The other sponsors were BECA Group/ MFAT, the New Zealand Defence Force, Bell Gully, Buddle Findlay and the Meat Industry Association.

The discussions at the seminar covered a wide range of issues, but they focused on Australia's relations with Indonesia. All three Australian speakers felt that the crisis over East Timor had damaged relations between Australia and its Asian neighbours. Ross Garnaut, Professor of Economics at the Australian National University, pointed out that Australia could no longer rely on Indonesia's support for its efforts to be included in the new regional economic consultations.

Gerald Hensley, speaking on regional security, raised the question `Could our missionary zeal for human rights and democracy ever become a threat to security?' Single-issue diplomacy is, he argued, just as blind to human realities as single-issue politics.

A summary of the discussions at the seminar made by Simon Upton is available on his new website (www.arcadia.co.nz).

Wellington

At the AGM, which was held on 10 August, Brigadier Martin Dunne spoke on `East Timor: Military Issues and Challenges of Coalition Management'. The following officers...