60th Otago Foreign Policy School: The Faltering International Rules-Based Order and New Zealand
St Margaret’s College, 26–28 June 2026
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The international rules-based order (sometimes called the liberal international order) refers to an open and rules-oriented system of international relations where states cooperate in security and trade to make mutual gains. It is “enshrined in institutions such as the United Nations and norms such as multilateralism” (Ikenberry 2011, p. 56). Developments in the 1980s such as globalisation and the demise of the Cold War toward the end of that decade seemed to expand the possibilities of the international rules-based order.
Nevertheless, the post 9/11 era has been marked by the steady erosion of an international rules-based order on three fronts. First, there has been international challenges such as the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and subsequent full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the US/Israeli war against Iran in 2026. Second, this period has witnessed the rise of right-wing populist leaders in the US, the UK, Brazil and Hungary, which has served to diminish support within these countries for an international rules-based order. Third, international and national challenges have morphed together to create a combined threat. Opponents of the rules-based order have sought, particularly in the social media space, to influence the political direction of states that have traditionally supported this order.
New Zealand cannot be indifferent to these trends. Since 1945, all governments in this country have been firm supporters of a rules-based multilateral system. Like most middle and small powers, New Zealand has a vital stake in ensuring that its security and economic well-being are not dictated by the unrestrained exercise of raw power. Besides, the descent into a lawless global environment only weakens the capacity of states to resolve the growing number of problems, like climate change, that do not respect borders.
The 60th University of Otago Foreign Policy School brings together a formidable team of international and national specialists to consider the rules-based order through the lens of five related themes:
- Liberal Institutions and Multilateralism: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives
- Free Trade, Sovereignty, Big Tech, and Democratic Governance
- Upholding Rules in an Insecure and Unjust World
- Alternative Approaches to an International Rules-Based order
- New Zealand and an International Rules-Based Order under Strain
Speakers
- Tahamoana Macpherson | Deputy Chief Executive, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
- Dr Hanna Shelest | Director of Security Studies and Global Outreach, Ukrainian Prism
- Dr Malcolm Jorgensen | Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Heidelberg
- Professor Zhang Qingmin | Chair of the Department of Diplomacy, School of International Studies, Peking University
- Professor Ilan Pappé (on Zoom) | University of Exeter
- Professor Richard Byrne | University of Maryland Global Campus
- Associate Professor Fadhel Kaboub (on Zoom) | Denison University
- Professor Treasa Dunworth | University of Auckland
- Professor Alexander Gillespie | University of Waikato
- Professor Karen Scott | University of Canterbury
- Dr Arama Rata | University of Waikato
- Brigadier General (Rtd) David Stilwell | U.S. Air Force Academy’s Institute for Future Conflict
- Peter Bale | Co-Host, The Weekly Hoon
- Mike Houlahan | Associate Editor and Political Editor, Otago Daily Times
- Gary Quinlan | Incoming National President of the Australian Institute for International Affairs
- Ben Eckman | Unit Manager, Strategy and Performance Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Conference programme
Read the draft conference programme for the 60th Otago Foreign Policy School
Registration
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Sponsors
- Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Canberra
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Wellington
- University of Otago