David’s father, Bryce Harland QSO, was New Zealand’s first ambassador to China and North Vietnam, and world news and politics were always prominent in their household. “I remember Dad turning the tuning dials on our big radio at our house in York Bay every morning, to catch what had happened overnight in Vietnam,” he says.
He studied a Bachelor of Arts at Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, where he took English Literature and language courses, including Chinese, which he had begun learning as a child during his father’s posting in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution. Among his university memories are his Chinese lecturer Teresa Wong, the Springbok tour, and literary figures such as TS Eliot and Gawain.
After graduating, David left for Beijing in 1982 on a New Zealand‒China exchange scholarship, where he underwent language training and graduate studies. “There was plenty to run away from in Muldoon’s New Zealand…and things to run towards,” he says.
His passion for learning took him to Harvard University, where he earned a Master’s in East Asian Studies with a thesis on conflict in the South China Sea. He completed his PhD at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in 1994.
He says he always had a love for learning. “When I was a kid, I wanted to read our big multi-volume encyclopaedia. I’m not sure I got much beyond Aardvark, but that desire remains,” he says. “You have to pull me away from Wiki, I can spend hours there. Did you know that the opening line of Confucius is about the joy of learning?”
Following his studies, he joined the United Nations' Department of Peacekeeping Operations, serving in UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti, Kosovo, Timor Leste and Bosnia and Herzegovina. From 2006 to 2011, he was Director of the Europe and Latin America Division of the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations.
His experiences in conflict zones have given him a valuable perspective on life. “War matters. There are just a handful of truly existential threats to life on earth—climate change, pandemic, AI, and war. War is the most visceral of them all. It's an honour to spend my life trying to understand how war can be kept at bay. Which is really hard. War draws on really basic, powerful human instincts.”
Since 2011, David has served as the Executive Director of the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue (HD), a private non-profit peace mediation organisation. HD is active in most of the world’s conflicts, with mediation projects in various parts of Africa, the Middle East, Eurasia, and Asia, employing more than 200 people in conflict zones around the world.
In 2022, HD was awarded the Carnegie Wateler Peace Prize for its mediation efforts. David attributes HD’s success to its discretion and neutrality, along with a pragmatic approach. “HD doesn't have a magic wand, but it's true that we've had a run of successes across a range of conflicts. We have a model that works.
“On this side of the world, we played a role in helping end wars in Indonesia and the Philippines. Further away, HD conceived the Black Sea grain initiative between Russia and Ukraine, which helped bring down world grain prices at a time of global food crisis. And lots more, some public, some not.
“Why does it work? We're discreet, we're neutral, we're realistic, we're willing to take some risks that others aren't. And we have great people: analysts, mediators, the lot. A lot of brave and smart people.”
As a global leader in peace mediation, David has written about the decline in international diplomacy, noting that the world is increasingly losing the art of communication. “Some sort of global cancel culture has taken root. Now, when we don't like someone, we don't talk to them. North Koreans: cancelled. Syrians: cancelled. Russians: cancelled. Even the Americans and the Chinese barely speak to each other, even though the survival of the world depends on it. New Zealand could set a good example by talking to everyone.”
His advice for those interested in pursuing a career in international relations is simple: “Just get involved. The New Zealand brand is highly regarded globally, sometimes even more than we deserve, creating numerous opportunities for individual Kiwis.”
Earlier this year, David won the Humanthropy Global Peacekeeping Award and is set to receive Victoria University’s Distinguished Alumni Award at an event in Wellington in September. He views these honours as a collective achievement. “These awards are not just for me as an individual, they often recognise the quiet success of an entire organisation.
“At a time when the threat of wider war is on the rise—when wars are increasing and more people are being killed—and when the tools for managing conflict often fail, I feel fortunate to work with a group of people who are managing to make a positive impact.”