Since the late 1980s, the world has experienced a turbulent and prolonged transition to a new international order. If 9/11 demonstrated anything it is that extraordinary national power is no guarantee against political and security challenges in an interconnected world. But it must be acknowledged the massive military response of the Bush leadership to 9/11 and also the counterterrorist policies of subsequent administrations have cast a long shadow. The ‘war on terror’ emphasized pre-emptive war and US global primacy and generated expensive, bloody and unproductive wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Islamophobia, the global financial crisis of 2008/09, the rise of national populism, increasing attacks on the multilateral rules-based system and COVID-19 are among the factors shaping the international transition. The trajectory of change is toward a post-hegemonic world in which small and middle powers play a larger international role, but the journey ahead is an uncertain and complex one.
About the Speaker
Robert Patman is one of the University of Otago’s Inaugural Sesquicentennial Distinguished Chairs and a specialist in international relations. He is the Director of the Master of International Studies programme. Robert has authored or edited 14 books with the most recent being a co-edited volume titled New Zealand’s Foreign Policy under the Jacinda Ardern Government: Facing the Challenge of a Disrupted World (World Scientific Publishing, March 2024). He is currently writing a book on Rethinking the Global Impact of 9/11. Robert is an Honorary Professor of the New Zealand Defence Command and Staff College and makes regular contributions to the national and global media on international issues. He is also the winner of the New Zealand Universities’ 2024 Critic and Conscience of Society Award.
