Security in a post-Cold War world.

• Author: McMillan, Stuart
• Position: 32nd Foreign Policy School, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, June 1997

Stuart McMillan reports on the 32nd Foreign Policy School held at Dunedin in June 1997.

The end of the Cold War did not also bring an end to major security concerns. We are no longer concerned, or we should not be, with the central balance that distorted so much of the world--and probably helped stabilise so much as well--during the years of the Cold War. But the seven years since the collapse of the Soviet Union seem more troubled than many years during the Cold War. At the same time, and more full of hope, we have stretched the meaning of security. It now embraces aspects of economics, of the environment, and of mass migration as well as the traditional military concerns. We have not fully grasped the changes in the nature of security.

It was thus entirely appropriate that the Foreign Policy School, held at the University of Otago from 27 to 30 June had as its theme, `Security in a Post-Cold War World'. As an institution the Foreign Policy School has long passed any test of its worth and within the field of foreign policy may be regarded without reservation as a national treasure. The School traditionally attracts the right blend of politicians, policy-makers, academic and other specialists, students, and interested members of the public--more than 100 this year. The 1997 Director of the School (keeper of the treasure) was Dr Robert Patman, who drew together an outstanding group of speakers.

A summary of a conference draws threads together; the threads might not lead to where the arguments of the individual papers sought to lead them.

Don McKinnon, the Foreign Minister, gave the opening address as he has done for the last few years. He is a seasoned observer of, and participant in, the security issues of the region and always proves to be a valuable contributor to the School both with a paper and because of the authoritative way in which he is able to respond to questions. He began with a look at the world in the 1990s, putting forward the propositions that 'we are all getting used to a more fluid pattern of inter-relationships and a higher degree of uncertainty in security relations' and that `no one structure is going to emerge to replace the adversarial lines of the Cold War'. He drew the conclusion that regional developments--the emergence of China, the influence of the Association of South-east Asian Nations, the role of the United States in the region--all added up to a positive security picture for New Zealand. In retrospect it can be seen that he was giving the School a clue about the significant role New Zealand was to play within days in the Bougainville crisis.

Is there a distinctively New Zealand approach to security? McKinnon saw a streak of...