Wellington.

• Position: INSTITUTE NOTES

On 28 April the branch hosted an online event featuring Habib Ur Rehman Mayar, the deputy general secretary of the g7+ Secretariat, a voluntary association of countries that are or have been affected by conflict and are now in transition to the next stage of development. His topic was 'COVID-19: A New Challenge for Fragile States'. Similar events were held on:

21 May Prof Siah Hwee Ang (director of New Zealand's South-East Asia Centre of Asia-Pacific Excellence on 'New Zealand-ASEAN Trade: How Might Trade with a Key Region Change Post-COVID-19'. 10 Jun HE Gediminas Varvuolis (Lithuania's ambassador to New Zealand), 'Lithuania's Foreign Policy: The View from Vilnius'. 25 Jun Ambassador Ong Keng Yong (executive deputy chairman of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore), 'Small States and the Changing Global Order'. The branch held its first post-lockdown meeting on 1 July, when Minister of Defence Ron Mark reflected on his time as minister and discussed New Zealand's role as a contributor to regional and collective security.

On 13 July, Steve...