I have been back in New Zealand, the enchanted Land of the Long White Cloud, since June 16. During that surpassingly enjoyable period I have been reacquainting myself with various parts of the country – Auckland, Northland and the Coromandel peninsula, attending a conference on Science Diplomacy at Otago University’s 46th Foreign Policy School in Dunedin, condulting with colleagues at the NZ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and speaking at various branches of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.
All of this has been most rich and rewarding, and some of the subject matter has even generated interest in the local press.
Before getting into any of that, however, here’s an instructive tale.