Programs and Events

Dr. Gerard Finin - “Aotearoa Policy in the Pacific Islands Region: Exemplar for Australia and the USA?”

September 25, 2006

 

Dr Gerard Finin speaking at the US Embassy, Wellington. Larger photo.

Dr. Gerard Finin Interim Director at the Pacific Islands Development Program East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, spoke at the US Embassy on - “Aotearoa Policy in the Pacific Islands Region: Exemplar for Australia and the USA?”.

New Zealand’s expanding role in the Pacific embraces the complex challenges of nation building. These include institutional development, promoting good governance, capacity building, enhanced security and transparency. Evidence suggests New Zealand has pursued its interests in a manner that emphasizes public diplomacy and soft power.

As a “Pacific Power,” is New Zealand’s approach to these issues working? What are some of the criticisms of New Zealand heard in the region? To what extent does New Zealand’s engagement in the Pacific offer lessons for other metropolitan powers?

Dr Finin's current research interests focus on globalization from the perspective of small island societies in the Caribbean and Pacific regions, and work highlighting innovations for transparent governance and building state capacity.

His publications include "The Making of the Igorot: Contours of Cordillera Consciousness" a finalist for the 2005 Philippine National Book Awards; "Small is Viable: the Global Ebbs and Flows of a Pacific Atoll Nation" (2002); and "Coups Conflicts and Crises: The New Pacific Way?" (2000).

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