Connected Theatres or Fractured World? Emerging Threats and Collective Responses Across the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific

On 10 March, the Centre for Strategic Studies hosted its 2026 annual conference, discussing cross-theatre links, collective responses and wider implications.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 it has become clear that threats in the Euro-Atlantic region and the Indo-Pacific are profoundly inter-connected. North Korean troops and weapons have helped Russia’s war effort and Chinese technologies have sustained its military industrial base. Ships registered in the Pacific have been part of Russia’s sanctions-busting ‘shadow fleet’ and implicated in cable-cutting activities in the Baltic Sea. Conversely, Russia has transferred advanced weapons technologies to North Korea, and lessons from the war in Ukraine have implications for Indo-Pacific flashpoints, including across the Taiwan Strait. But if cross-theatre links are clear, forging collective responses has become much more complicated. The recent US National Defence Strategy points to a more limited US role in Europe and expectations that in the Indo-Pacific allies and partners will have to do more. International order is in flux. What does all this mean for New Zealand, for our region, for partners, and for global security?

The conference was opened by Hon. Judith Collins, KC, Minister of Defence and H.E. Iona Thomas, OBE, High Commissioner of the United Kingdom to New Zealand. Speakers from New Zealand, Australia, the UK, Canada and the United States explored a wider range of topics. The event brought together 250 attendees, including diplomats, government officials, scholars, students, business leaders, and members of the public.

The Centre for Strategic Studies acknowledges the generous support of the British High Commission Wellington.

Watch the full conference recording below.