Singapore and New Zealand are island nations that share many similarities and have enjoyed close relations for almost sixty years. Both face global challenges in today's less stable world. Twenty-seven prominent experts cover a wide range of topics, from Singapore's and New Zealand's history, foreign policy, trade relations, economy, sustainability and climate policies, to creative sectors, museums and ageing populations. Other distinguished authors highlight the close cooperation in defence, trade and business.The Editor, Dr Anne-Marie Schleich, was a German career diplomat posted to Singapore from 1982 to 1985 and was the German Ambassador to New Zealand from 2012 to 2016. She is now an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, NTU, Singapore.

With emphasis on East Asian and North American examples – notably Japan and Quebec – Date, Laniel and their contributors take a new approach to the understanding of small nations and their role in the international system. Small nations, by their very nature, raise significant questions about what a nation is. Some small nations are sovereign states with relatively small populations and limited territory, others are nations within larger sovereign states, with distinctive cultures, governance structures or other features that differentiate them from their “parent” state. By focussing on non-European nations in particular, the contributors to this volume challenge our conceptions of what a small nation is and how it operates within the international system. They focus in particular on the nation-within-a-nation-state of Quebec and on Japan, supplemented by further examples from East Asia. By interrogating what these examples have to show us about the typology and character of small nations, they offer a critique of superpower and draw out the potential of small nation studies. A valuable resource for students and scholars of international relations and theories of the nation and nation state.

The aim of this book is to provide the reader with an overview of New Zealand's international relations. It is a country that has often shown an international presence that is out of proportion to the modest spectrum of national economic, military and diplomatic capabilities at its disposal.In this volume, the editors have called upon a range of specialists representing a range of views drawn from the worlds of academia, policy-making, and civil society. It is an attempt to present a rounded picture of New Zealand's place in the world, one that does not rely exclusively on any particular perspective. The book does not claim to be exhaustive. But it does seek to present a more wide-ranging treatment of New Zealand's foreign relations than has generally been the case in the past.Five broad themes help shape and organize the contributions to the text: