International affairs scholar honoured by peers

International affairs scholar's four decades of contributions honoured by peers

Associate Professor Steve Hoadley has just been made a Life Member of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.

The news was announced at the NZIAA Annual Dinner by their president and former Cabinet minister and Speaker of the House Sir Douglas Kidd.

Dr Hoadley says the award is gratifying recognition of his forty years of service to the organisation.

“The award of life membership by any organisation is earned by years of meritorious service. I have contributed to the Institute of International Affairs’ activities and publications for four decades, so I am very pleased to be recognised as one of the Institute’s valued patriarchs.”

Despite that, Dr Hoadley says the award came out of the blue. Being based in Auckland means he is not in regular contact with the institute’s National Council members because they are based in Wellington.

“I was pleasantly surprised that they remembered me way up in Auckland. I believe I’m one of the few life members not based in Wellington, where diplomats tend to work and retire, and the first in Auckland.”

Dr Hoadley first became interested in politics when he visited Far East ports during his US Navy service in the late 1960s, during the middle of the Cold War.

“Having visited many navy ports and seen the warships of many states, I became intrigued with the geo-politics of that dynamic region. I still am.”

He settled in New Zealand in 1972 and began his service to the Institute as Auckland Branch Secretary, then Branch President, in the 1970s and 1980s. He also became one of the first contributors to the newly establishedNew Zealand International Review, starting in 1976 with articles on New Zealand aid, East Timor, and ASEAN.

A tabulation in the 1990s found that he was the Review’s most prolific contributor in the 20 years since theReview’s founding. He is still a regular contributor of book reviews. His support of the NZIR was recognised by his appointment as Corresponding Editor and his varied contributions to the Institute earned him appointment as an Honorary Vice President.

Dr Hoadley has written several books published by the Institute, including New Zealand and Taiwan (1993), New Zealand and Australia (1995), The US-New Zealand Kiwifruit Dispute (1997), New Zealand United States Relations (2000), Negotiating Free Trade: The New Zealand Singapore CEP Agreement (2002), and New Zealand and France (2005), as well as books published by Oxford University Press, Allen & Unwin, and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

In past years he has served on the Public Advisory Committee on Disarmament, on the Aid Advisory Committee, and on the review panel of the Intelligence Agencies Bill.

Dr Hoadley now lectures on New Zealand Diplomacy, European and American Foreign Policies, and Economic Statecraft, and directs the degree of Master of Professional Studies in International Relations and Human Rights. He regularly lectures on foreign affairs at the NZDF Command and Staff College, where he is Honorary Professor, and at courses for the Royal New Zealand Navy in which he is an Honorary Captain. TV and radio commentary, and public talks, on current international events have been one of Steve’s enthusiasms, starting in 1973 and continuing to the present

Given our rapidly changing world and his history it’s no surprise Dr Hoadley recommends university study of international affairs.

“The best way to understand the world is to enrol in Politics and International Relations courses at the University of Auckland.”

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