New Zealand in World Affairs, Volume IV: 1990--2005.

• Author: Hoadley, Stephen
• Position: Book review

NEW ZEALAND IN WORLD AFFAIRS, Volume IV: 1990--2005.

Edited by: Roderic Alley Published by: Victoria University Press in association with the NZIIA, Wellington, 2007, 328pp, $40.

This is the fourth in a series inaugurated 30 years ago. The editor of the first volume was Ken Keith, then Professor of International Law at Victoria University of Wellington and Director of the NZIIA. Sir Kenneth Keith is now a Justice of the International Court of Justice. Three of the contributors have died--Sir Alister McIntosh, Professor Fred Wood, Dr Michael Stenson--but three are still contributing actively: Canterbury University Professor David McIntyre, government historian Dr Malcolm McKinnon, and editor of the New Zealand International Review and Korean War historian Ian McGibbon.

The topics of the first volume are familiar to veteran analysts but will appear quaint to the younger generation: the Department of External Affairs, Peter Fraser and the Commonwealth, ANZUS and SEATO, and 'forward defence'.

The second volume appeared in 1991 under the editorship of Malcolm McKinnon and the third volume was published in 1999, edited by Bruce Brown. New contributors introduced new topics that resonate today: nuclear testing, trade access, new partnerships with Japan and China, and reinvigorated relations with Australia and the United States.

The current volume, edited by former associate professor of political science and international relations at Victoria University Roderic Alley brings the story of New Zealand's foreign policy evolution up to date. Topics covered include relations with Australia, the United States, the European Union, Asia, and Oceania. Also covered are the United Nations (as an ambassador to which the author served) including selected international issues, and the Commonwealth (of which former Minister of Foreign Affairs Don McKinnon is the Secretary-General).

The policy sectors of trade and defence merit a chapter each. Two further chapters reveal some of New Zealand's new foreign policy concerns: international law and...