INTP 244New Zealand Foreign Policy
This course examines how New Zealand engages the world through its foreign and defence policies. It employs different conceptual frameworks to critically analyse key factors that shape these, including relations with major powers, multilateral organizations, and priority regions. The course focuses on New Zealand’s relations with Britain, the United States, China, the Pacific, Asia, the United Nations, and its responses to pressing issues involving the Rules Based International Order, AUKUS and NATO. Where appropriate, the class will incorporate guest lectures from government ministries and different country embassies. This course may also be able to be taken towards a major in POLS. See major requirements for details.
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Course details
- Dates
- 6 Jul 2026 to 8 Nov 2026
- Starts
- Trimester 2
- Fees
- NZ$1,156.00 for
- International fees
- NZ$5,893.60
- Lecture start times
- Tuesday 3.10pm
- Thursday 3.10pm
- Campus
- Kelburn
- Estimated workload
- Approximately 200 hours or 11.8 hours per week for 17 weeks
- Points
- 20
Entry restrictions
Taught by
School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations—Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
About this course
This course will be delivered in person, with some online content. The course is lecture and seminar based. Students are encouraged to attend in person to get the most out of the lectures. The lectures are not available on Zoom, except where requested by guest speakers.
The course is internally assessed, and assessments can be submitted and taken online.
Key Topics
- Navigating a shifting world – Te whakatere i tētahi ao hurihuri - Introducing New Zealand's current worldview
- Overview of NZ foreign policy (International environment; National identity; Economics and Regionalism; Morality; Security and Multilateralism)
- NZ foreign policy and small state theory
- NZ foreign policy and IR concepts
- NZ foreign policy and geopolitics
- Navigating a shifting world – Te whakatere i tētahi ao hurihuri - Critically examining New Zealand's current worldview
- NZ - China
- NZ - US
- NZ - Pacific
- NZ - South-East Asia
- NZ security and international conflicts.
Course learning objectives
Students who pass this course should be able to:
Understand the historical and conceptual underpinnings of key foreign policy settings discussed in Navigating a shifting world – Te whakatere i tētahi ao hurihuri.
Critically engage with key debates about New Zealand's external relations, particularly its place in the international system and relations with key countries and regions of interest.
Develop the capacity to think critically, analyse, research, and present ideas/arguments about existing literature on New Zealand foreign policy.
How this course is taught
This course is taught in person, with some online content. It is taught in twice-weekly fifty-minute lectures over 12 weeks. There will also be eleven weeks of tutorials (there are no tutorials in the first week). Students are expected to attend lectures and tutorials and to participate actively in the tutorial discussions.
Lectures: The lectures will critically analyse the readings.
- Lecture recordings will be made available on Nuku.
- There will be one Zoom tutorial (for those living outside Wellington and for special circumstances (Course Coordinator approval needed to join this class).
Tutorials: Tutorials are specifically designed to help prepare students for the assessments. These will address key issues from the lectures and readings, and any questions students may have.
- Note: Students must do the required readings to prepare for the lectures and tutorials.
Assessment
- Final test- 120 minutes Type: IndividualMark: 40%
- Mid-Trimester test- 60 minutes Mark: 20%
- Research Assignment - 2500 words (not including references) Mark: 40%
Assessment dates and extensions
Once you've signed up to this course, you can use to see due dates for assessments and information about extensions.
Mandatory requirements
There are no mandatory requirements for this course.
Lecture times and rooms
What you’ll need to get
You do not need to get any texts or equipment for this course.
Who to contact
Selected offering
INTP 244
6 Jul–8 Nov 2026
Trimester 2 · CRN 13542