We reach the halfway point of the year with the themes we opened 2026 with - security, trust, and New Zealand’s place in a more contested world - still very much in play, but now showing up more clearly in the decisions being made by leaders here and abroad.
What has shifted over the past few months is less about the issues themselves, and more about how they are being worked through. Questions of alignment, relationships, and judgement are now sitting alongside the more familiar economic and geopolitical pressures facing leaders. There are reasons, this month, to find some encouragement in that.
In Global Affairs, an unexpectedly aligned G7 and a peace deal signed in the same week offer a reminder that even in fractious times, shared interests find their way to the surface - territory Aspen NZ's new Security Programme is designed to work through. Critical Conversations looks at what AI still can't do, and why the slow work of building trust may be the most valuable thing leaders can invest in right now. And in Connected Communities, we are pleased to introduce two young New Zealanders heading to India this September to represent Aspen NZ at the Global Changemakers Workshop.
Global Affairs: Finding Common Ground
Critical Conversations: What AI Can't Replace
Connected Communities: Global Changemakers Scholarship Recipients
We're also growing the team. If you know someone with strong Auckland networks and a passion for the conversations we're having, we'd love to hear from you.
Ngā mihi - Christine and the Aspen Institute NZ team
Global Affairs
Finding Common Ground
When G7 leaders gathered in France last week, expectations were muted. Yet, the joint declaration that emerged, covering Ukraine, the Middle East and critical minerals, is the first sign of alignment between the G7 nations since President Trump took office. The timing was significant, coming alongside Washington’s announcement of a peace deal with Iran, which eased one immediate pressure point and made room for a degree of consensus that had recently seemed unlikely.
Aspen Italia's recent editorial, On Wars, offers a useful lens on both developments. Its argument is that the effects of conflict and cooperation are now moving quickly across markets, supply chains, and strategic relationships, and that the reverberations are felt far beyond the battlefield, strongly influencing how governments, businesses, and institutions behave under pressure. Those effects are increasingly visible in New Zealand’s own context. Recent polling from the Asia New Zealand Foundation shows a shift in public sentiment, with trust in regional partners rising while confidence in the United States has declined significantly. In the wake of global disruption, trade, supply chains and geopolitical positioning have become part of the same conversation, and one New Zealand can't afford to sit out.
Critical Conversations
What AI Can't Replace
Two recent pieces from across the Aspen network explore what AI still cannot do. Aspen Strategy Group member, Anne-Marie Slaughter, argues that AI systems optimised for responsiveness tend to affirm rather than challenge, lacking the capacity to navigate emotionally complex, values-based situations and smoothing friction at precisely the moment when it may be most needed. And when a group of development practitioners working with the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) was recently asked to design the ideal institution for managing collective knowledge, two-thirds chose the organisation that had earned their trust over time, instead of the one with the most advanced technology.
Trust, it turns out, cannot be automated. In environments where decisions are shaped by uncertainty and competing priorities, the quality of relationships continues to carry weight alongside the speed of tools. For leaders working in this context, the slower work of building relationships and maintaining trust remains the more durable investment, outlasting any tool that promises to replace it.
Connected Communities
Aspen NZ Scholarship Recipients - Global Changemakers India
We are excited to announce this year's Aspen NZ scholarship recipients for the 2026 Global Changemakers Workshop: Decision Making in an Age of AI, taking place in Hyderabad, India this September.
Arne Larsen, Research Analyst at the McGuinness Institute, and Alexander Plimmer, incoming MPA candidate at Columbia University, will join emerging leaders from across the global Aspen network to examine questions of AI governance, accountability, and institutional trust.
Both bring strong academic and policy interests to the programme, and we look forward to the perspectives they will bring back to New Zealand following the workshop. More here.
Join Our Team
We're Hiring: Programme Lead – Auckland
As Aspen NZ continues to grow, we are seeking a Programme Lead based in Auckland to help expand our programmes, relationships and supporter network.
This new role will work closely with the CEO to build connections across business, investment, philanthropy and government while supporting Aspen NZ's Global Affairs and Critical Conversations programmes.
We're looking for someone with strong Auckland networks, commercial experience and an interest in leadership, technology, global affairs and New Zealand's future. The role is part-time and available immediately.
The Aspen NZ Security Forum takes place in Queenstown this October, gathering leaders across business, technology, investment, defence, infrastructure and government from New Zealand, Australia and international Aspen networks. Focused on technology, economic security and strategic capability, the Forum operates as a highly interactive Aspen-style gathering — cross-sector by design, and structured to move from frank assessment of the strategic environment to practical, forward-looking discussion. Participation is by invitation.
The New Zealand Security Dialogues bring together senior leaders from business, government, and society in small, private settings to work through the geopolitical, technological and trade pressures reshaping New Zealand's strategic environment. Each dialogue is conducted under Chatham House Rule, creating the conditions for candid, cross-sector discussion on issues that don't always surface in formal settings. If you are interested in taking part or supporting a dialogue, please contact us.
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