Qualifications

  • BA First Class Honours (Canterbury University, NZ)
  • BCom (Canterbury University, NZ)
  • MA (Canterbury, NZ)
  • PhD (University of Hawai’i at Manoa)

Profile

Iati joined Victoria University of Wellington in 2019 from the University of Otago, where he was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Politics. He was a co-director for the 48th and 50th Otago Foreign Policy schools.

Research Areas

Iati’s research focuses on New Zealand foreign policy, Pacific geopolitics, governance, and development, and the political and legal requirements and implications of land reform in the Pacific.

Research Projects

Iati is currently involved in projects that examine New Zealand’s Pacific Reset and its implications for regional geopolitics and governance, the commercialization of customary lands in the Pacific, and the regional free trade agreement, PACER Plus.

Supervision

Iati is interested in supervising students on the following topics:

  • New Zealand foreign policy.
  • Pacific geopolitics, particularly those addressing issues involving relations between China, US, NZ and Australia and Pacific island countries.
  • Governance and development.
  • Politics of land reform.

Research Publications

Edited Books

Patman, R., Iati, I., Kiglics, B. (eds) (2018). New Zealand and the World: Past, Present and Future. Singapore, World Scientific Publishing Co. Ptc. Ltd.

Journal Articles/Book Chapters

  • Iati, I. (2018) “Peace and Conflict in Samoa: The role of tradition and traditional institutions”, in Carmela Lutmar & James Ockey (eds.), Peacebuilding in the Asia Pacific, Australia: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Iati, I., & Patman, R. G. (2018) Introduction. In R. G. Patman, I. Iati & B. Kiglics (Eds.), New Zealand and the world: Past, present and future. (pp. xxv-xlvii). Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific.
  • Iati, Iati (2018) “Customary Land Rights and Pacific Islands Security and Stability”, Asia Pacific Bulletin, No. 19. Washington, DC: East-West Center.
  • (2017) “Is New Zealand Foreign Policy in the Pacific Playing into the Hands of China?”, in Sémir Al Wardi, Jean-Marc Regnault, Jean-François Sabouret  (eds), L'océanie convoitée: Actes des colloques. Paris: CNRS Editions / Papeete: ‘API Tahiti.
  • (2017) Pacific Regionalism and the Polynesian Leaders Group, The Round Table, 106:2, 175-185.
  • (2017) “Being political: Leadership and democracy in the Pacific Islands”, Commonwealth and Comparative Politics, 55(4), pp. 553-554.
  • (2016) ‘Samoa’, in S. Levine (ed.). Pacific Ways: Government and Politics in the Pacific Islands – Vol. 2. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington.
  • (2016) ‘China in the Pacific: Alternative Perspectives’, in Michael Powles (ed.), China and the Pacific: The View from Oceania. Wellington: Victoria University Press.
  • (2016) ‘The Implications of Applying the Torrens System to Samoan Customary Lands: Alienation through the LTRA 2008’, Journal of South Pacific Law – Issue 1, Special edition.
  • (2015) ‘New Zealand in the World’, in Janine Hayward (ed.), New Zealand Government and Politics 6th Edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press.