National Office and branch activities.

• Position: INSTITUTE NOTES - New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade

On 22 November Dr Lassina Zerbo, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty Organisation, addressed a meeting at Victoria University of Wellington on 'Advancing Nuclear Disarmament Through the CTBT: a Verifiable and Enforceable Prohibition on Nuclear Testing 60 Years in the Making.

Melanie Thornton took up office as executive director on 3 December.

Auckland

The following meetings were held:

27 Aug Dr Rodney Harris (special adviser, North Asia Division, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade), 'Europe without the United Kingdom: Brexit and the Role of Germany in the Future of Europe'.

24 Sep Justine Arroll (Trade Strategy and Global Stakeholder Affairs, Fonterra Co-operative Group), 'Trade in the Age ofTrump: A Fonterra Perspective'.

27 Sep Dr Ashok Sharma (adjunct associate professor at the University of Canberra and the NZIIA Auckland branch deputy chair), 'India's Quest for a Rightful Place in the World: A Stocktake of Modi Foreign Policy'.

2 Oct Kate Grisham (assistant US attorney, Washington State), 'Human Trafficking: An American Law Enforcement Perspective on an International Problem'. This meeting was held in association with the Auckland branch of the International Law Association.

8 Oct Dr Itzhak Gerberg (Israel ambassador), 'Reframing the Middle East--Risks and Opportunities for Israel'.

1 Nov Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar (research professor at the In donesian Institute of Sciences and Sir Howard Kippenberger visiting professor in strategic studies at Victoria University of Wellington), 'Values in Indonesian Foreign Policy'.

Christchurch

The following meetings were held:

12 Oct HE David Vegelsanger (Swiss ambassador to New Zealand), 'Europe and New Zealand--Bilateral and Multilateral Relations in a Time of Change'.

18 Oct Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar, 'Indonesia's Policy Response to the Indo-Pacific Concept'.

Hawke's Bay

The following meetings were held:

11 Oct Ben King (deputy secretary of MFAT's Americas and Asia Group), 'New Zealand Foreign Policy in a More Competitive Asia-Pacific Region'.

30 Oct Dr Dewi Fortuna Anwar, 'Indonesia's Oudook on the Situation in the Asia-Pacific Region'.

Nelson

The following meetings were held:

29 Aug Minh Tran (lecturer and researcher), 'A View of the South China Sea from a Chinese and Vietnamese Perspective.'

20 Sep Michael Smith (author and historian), 'From Stonehenge to Brexit--the Making of Britain'.

11 Oct Prof William E. Tunmer (PhD in cognitive science), 'The Rise...