New Zealand’s Foreign Service: A History

by Ian McGibbon (Editor)

Since 1943, during war, humanitarian and natural disasters and flashpoints of global tension, one government department has been charged with the critical role of representing New Zealand’s interests overseas. In doing so, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (and its predecessors) has needed to respond to ever-evolving political and military allegiances, trade globalisation, economic threats, natural disasters and military conflict on behalf of a small nation that seeks to engage on the global stage while maintaining the principles that underpin its political institutions.

For more than 75 years the ministry has been served by some remarkable people, dedicated to an organisation that has reflected New Zealand’s developing sense of nationhood and place in world. This history of the foreign service, edited by one of New Zealand’s foremost historians, captures the high stakes, skill and intelligence involved in the development of a unique organisation.

Genres: Nonfiction

576 pages, Hardcover

Published August 11, 2022

About the author

Dr Ian McGibbon, ONZM, was formerly General Editor (War History) at the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, having begun his career as the Defence Historian at the Ministry of Defence. A widely acclaimed author, he has had a hand in over 15 books, including such major publications as The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Military History (2000), New Zealand and the Second World War: The People, The Battles and the Legacy (2004), New Zealand's Great War: New Zealand, the Allies and the First World War (2007), The Penguin Book of New Zealanders at War (2009), and New Zealand's Vietnam War (2010).

For the last five years, McGibbon has been involved in the Joint Historical and Archaeological Survey of the Anzac Battlefield, a tri-nation project at Gallipoli.

He lives in Paraparaumu.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good overview of NZ’s short diplomatic history and how our international relationships have been shaped over the decades, along with the why and how and whether each initiative has been successful. It’s another perspective of New Zealand history, clearly-written by a number of contributors, and gave me a good insight of how all the ministries, governments, and people within them operate on the world stage.