We've cast the net fairly wide this month: from security in the Indo-Pacific, to what's driving the extraordinary growth in AI, to how technology is changing the way we find and judge information. Different subjects, but with a common thread: change is happening quickly, often in unexpected ways, and what starts elsewhere can soon be felt much closer to home.
With our Security Forum less than two months away, there is plenty here to get us thinking. We hope you enjoy this edition.
Ngā mihi - Christine and the Aspen Institute NZ team
Global Affairs
Troubled Waters: Security and Stability in the Indo-Pacific
The shifts taking place across the Indo-Pacific don't always make major headlines, but together they are reshaping the region’s security environment. At the recent Aspen Security Forum, former US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, Lowy Institute Executive Director Michael Fullilove, and Anja Manuel of the Aspen Strategy Group examined how China’s growing assertiveness - from Taiwan and the South China Sea to its search for strategic access in the Pacific - is being met by countries across the region
An Aspen Ideas conversation with former Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Shannon O’Neil offered a complementary perspective - how middle powers are navigating a more fragmented world, seeking greater agency through diverse partnerships rather than fixed blocs. It raises a familiar question for New Zealand - where do we position ourselves as the region changes?
Critical Conversations
The Long View - Understanding the Forces Shaping our Economy
At Aspen Ideas, Fareed Zakaria and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink took the longer view on where the global economy is heading. From the power grids, data centres and computing capacity behind the AI build-out, to the changing role of private capital, and how the gains from technological change can be more widely shared. The conversation is realistic about constraints, including pressure on energy systems and the risk that gains concentrate too narrowly, but it is also notably optimistic. Periods of rapid change create demand for new infrastructure, new skills and new forms of investment, and for economies connected to global markets and capital, those shifts bring opportunity as well as uncertainty. The conversation is well worth a listen for those thinking where the next decade of growth will come from.
The Future of News
The way we access news and make sense of the world is changing rapidly. Social and video platforms have overtaken traditional news sources globally, AI chatbots are becoming a primary source of news for younger generations, and trust in news has fallen to its lowest recorded level across 48 countries. Aspen Digital's new report, Platforms, Publishers & The Future of News, brought together senior leaders from news organisations and technology companies to work through what comes next, and whether collaboration between the two industries is both necessary and possible. Vivian Schiller, Executive Director of Aspen Digital and Aspen NZ moderator shaped the conversation. The discussion raises questions that extend beyond journalism: how are people forming their views, what sources are they encountering, and what happens when the route to information changes?
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. Seats are limited.
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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