News & Announcements

The Archibald Baxter Memorial Trust Annual Peace Lecture 2021

Sep 2021 - News

The 2021 Archibald Baxter Memorial Lecture will be a conversation on peacebuilding in the 21st century. This online webinar will feature a panel discussion between Helen Clark, former Prime Minister & former UNDP Administrator; Ingrid Leary, Labour MP for Taieri; Professor Robert Patman, Professor of International Relations; and Professor Kevin Clements, Founding Director of the National Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and Toda Peace Institute Director. The event is on Wednesday 22 September at 5.30 pm (New Zealand)Registrations for this event can be made at tinyurl.com/BaxterPeace  Image: Staffs Live/Flickr

[SHARE] Australia burying ‘head in the sand’ on security risks of climate change, former defence official says

Sep 2021 - News

Australia has its “head in the sand” regarding the national security implications of climate change and should follow the US in spelling out the risks, a former senior Australian defence official says. Australia’s “strategic weakness” on climate policy is also making it harder for the country to be seen as a preferred partner with Pacific Island countries, according to Cheryl Durrant, the defence department’s former head of preparedness. Read more in this story from The Guardian, published 13 September. Image: Bushfire in grassland (Royal Botanic Garden Sydney)/Flickr

[SHARE] I-Kiribati Female Seasonal Workers in New Zealand: Lived Eperiences

Sep 2021 - News

In the second in a series of blog articles for the DevPolicyBlog, Charlotte Bedford, Richard Bedford and Rena Tekanene share the story of 47 I-Kiribati women who are part of a group of seasonal workers stuck in New Zealand since borders closed in early 2020, and who have no way of getting home. See full article here: https://devpolicy.org/i-kiribati-female-seasonal-workers-in-new-zealand-lived-experiences-20210901/?utm_source=Devpolicy&utm_campaign=b8a6705d56-Devpolicy+News+Dec+15+2017_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_082b498f84-b8a6705d56-227682326 Image: Accommodation for I-Kiribati workers, Clarks Beach, New Zealand (Richard Bedford)          

Toda Launches a YouTube channel

Sep 2021 - News

Toda Peace Institute is pleased to launch a new initiative to bring Toda’s work to an even broader audience. A series of recorded conversations has been uploaded to Toda’s YouTube Channel. The first conversations are part of a research project focusing on issues of peace, security and trust-building in Northeast Asia.  “The Toda Peace Institute is fortunate to have worked with many leading experts in the field of Northeast Asian trust-building and peace, and we feel privileged to have some of them agree to join us in these conversations to share their wisdom,” said Toda Peace Institute Director, Professor Kevin Clements. Professor Clements and Senior Research Fellow Hugh Miall facilitate the conversations. “We hope that these recordings will be shared and viewed widely, in classrooms and by policymakers in discussions about and action planning for stable peace in Northeast Asia,” said Professor Clements. Further conversations looking at challenges to democracy will be uploaded later this year. The first two conversations have been uploaded to Toda’s YouTube channel. You are invited to view these enlightening conversations. Please share them widely and subscribe to the channel. Overcoming Sino-Japanese Alienation, with Barry Buzan and Evelyn Goh Part One: The origins of the history problem and possibilities for a great power bargain. https://youtu.be/aMfFGF2WJZM Part Two: The pressures of an unpredictable China, US foreign policy and domestic politics https://youtu.be/8yVNxNmSouY Part Three: The lack of collaboration in the face of superordinate challenges such as climate change and pandemics, and deep-rooted history problems. https://youtu.be/YNBRhQDKR34 Part Four: Economic trends, confidence building measures, and the impact of status and hierarchy. https://youtu.be/d0JV9x7Eq_s Prospects for Peace on the Korean Peninsula, with Chung-in Moon and Peter Hayes Part One: The Korean vortex. https://youtu.be/GlrRcvQeJd0 Part Two: Requirements for a permanent peace agreement and the likely timeline. https://youtu.be/bGLcnL9jc4k Part Three: The importance of denuclearisation in peace negotiations and the status of US forces in Korea. https://youtu.be/i5xQ_X7WTY4 Part Four: The Influence of domestic politics on peace prospects in the region and South Korea’s troubled relationship with Japan. https://youtu.be/XClxQ4cGqiA Part Five: How Northeast Asian order is perceived by Korea, the influence of the pandemic and geo-ecology initiatives. https://youtu.be/yOGps1xc-3g   Image: Flickr/Esther Vargas          

[SHARE] IPCC report details climate risks facing the Pacific

Aug 2021 - News

The latest report from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has prompted one of the co-authors to warn that it represents a looming line in the sand for the Pacific. Without further reductions in emissions before 2050, the IPCC's vice chair, Professor Mark Howden, says the world is likely to exceed warming of two degrees Celsius before the end of the century. The report suggests that will mean dramatic and devastating sea level rise, and fewer, but more intense cyclones across the Pacific islands. See full article here:https://www.abc.net.au/radio-australia/programs/pacificbeat/ippc-report-only/13490204   Image: Flickr/Salvation Army IHQ