Since its inception in 1966, the Otago FPS has enjoyed a steadily growing reputation, and is now regarded as the premiere event on New Zealand’s international relations calendar. It attracts prominent international academics, journalists, diplomats, and private and public sector officials, along with interested members of the public from around the world.

Customarily opened by NZ’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the FPS is purposely limited to 180 attendees and 12 speakers, and takes place in the congenial atmosphere of Salmond College, one of Otago University’s halls of residence.

In recent years, FPS titles have included “Environmental Governance and State Autonomy in a Changing Climate”; “Human (In)security: Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals?”; “Globalization and International Trade Liberalization;”; “Universal Human Rights?” and “Security in a Post-Cold-War World.”

FPS papers are anthologized in book form and now constitute an important body of scholarship.