The Kiwi Strategist

Twitter:  @ ReubenSteff I just returned from a  week of research in Washington DC .  The topic of my focus was the implications of emerging technologies , such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, quantum computing and digitization technologies on international security (broadly defined), how we can begin to conceptualise and understand this emerging technological era, and what it means for small states like New Zealand.  While my research will be sifted through in more detail to inform a broader program of research myself and my colleague, Dr Joe Burton, have underway at the University of Waikato, below I outline a number of points I think worth sharing now.  I hope that readers forgive the scattered approach of this article, I am really just beginning to scratch the surface - subsequent blog posts, publications and other research outposts will delve into various issues noted below (and many not noted here) in more detail. As a framing device for this blog post, it shou

Twitter:  @ ReubenSteff Abstract: This article contains research from a written survey conducted in late 2016 of members of the New Zealand strategic studies community. They were asked to assess the state of relations between NZ, the US and China at that time, the expected future state of relations, and give their views on various aspects of the three states bilateral and triangular relations. The findings predict greater turbulence between Beijing and Washington over the coming decade and make recommendations for policymakers in NZ to consider. This article outlines these findings, provides brief commentary and suggests areas where subsequent research could prove fruitful.  The first part of this article contains the quantitative survey findings, followed by some of the qualitative responses with brief commentary from the authors. The full set of qualitative responses is included at the end of the article in an appendix. We invite readers to consider these to draw their own concl