National Office and branch activities.

• Position: Institute Notes - Conference notes

On 16 August Prof Yorizumi Watanabe, professor of international political economy in the Faculty of Policy Management at Keio University, addressed a meeting at Victoria University of Wellington on 'Japan's Economic Diplomacy in Asia-Pacific: FTA Strategy'.

Auckland

The following meetings were held:

17 Aug Prof Liru Cui (New Zealand prime minister's fellow and president, China Institute of Contemporary International Relations), 'China and the US in the Asia-Pacific' (co-hosted with the New Zealand Asia Institute).

25 Aug Penelope Ridings (director of MFAT's Legal Division and former ambassador to Poland), 'New Zealand and the World Trade Organisation Dispute Settlement: A Level Playing Field?' (This meeting was co-hosted with the Faculty of Law of the University of Auckland and International Law Association (New Zealand Branch).)

Christchurch

The following meetings were held:

3 Aug Prof Mark Katz (George Mason University, Virginia), 'What Would a Democratic Russian Foreign Policy Look Like?'

23 Aug John Hayes MP, 'Parliament's Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade select committee'.

1 Sep Angela Woodward (UK-based non-governmental organisation VERTIC), 'Challenges facing the biological and chemical weapons regimes'.

Palmerston North

On 3 August 2011, Prof Eyal Zisser, dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Tel Aviv University, gave a seminar at the International Pacific College. He began by offering a comprehensive overview of Middle Eastern history, the political situation, cultural and religious factors, and demographic issues. He then moved to more recent developments in the region--in particular the Arab Spring. He covered the origins of this 'domino theory' of democracy by highlighting specific examples in Egypt, Syria and Tunisia, and linked various aspects of these cases to other neighbouring countries such as Jordan, Iran and Iraq.

Zisser was careful to point out that the fall of regimes and dictatorships was not so much a revolution for democracy or...