About SSANSE
Small states may be small in population and territory, but they have frequently had a disproportionate effect on global politics and they are more often affected by global shifts in power. The SSANSE project, which ran from 2017 to 2019, contributed to theoretical debates on the role of small states in the changing international system as well as on the issue of how states manage their relations between the major powers in the new security environment.
The SSANSE research team was led by Professor Anne-Marie Brady, Department of Political Science and International Relations, University of Canterbury and Professor Baldur Thorhallsson, University of Iceland; working with co-directors Professor Margareta Šešelgytė, Vilnius University and Professor Alan Tidwell, Georgetown University. The project produced two edited books and more than twenty policy papers, held three international conferences (in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Reykjavik, and Washington DC), and provided scholarships for six post-graduate students. The NATO-SPS grant funded travel for the four lead researchers to attend three conferences, funded six student stipends, and provided a subsidy to the Center for Small States which was the lead organisation of the project. Further funding assistance was received from the University of Canterbury and NZ Political Science Association to help with an additional graduate scholarship for a New Zealand-based student and to pay for the travel cost of New Zealand graduate students to attend the project’s conference held in Ōtautahi Christchurch in 2017.
SSANSE Researchers
UC-Based Research Team
- Professor Anne-Marie Brady
- Associate Professor Natalia Chaban
- Toby Dalley
- Dr Kate Dewes
- Professor Martin Holland
- K.C. Jung
- Dr Serena Kelly
- Professor Steve Ratuva
SSANSE Co-directors
- Professor Margareta Šešelgytė, Vilnius University
- Professor Baldur Thorhallsson, University of Iceland
- Professor Alan Tidwell, Georgetown University
Research Associates (NZ foreign policy book project)
- Dr Joe Burton, Victoria University of Wellington
- Dr Beth Greener, Massey University
- Mr Nicky Hager, independent researcher
- Associate Professor Jim Headley
- Associate-Professor Steve Hoadley
- Professor Robert Patman
- Dr Anna Powles
- Dr Jim Rolfe
- Dr Mark G. Rolls
- Dr Anthony Smith, NZ Department of PM and Cabinet
- Dr Reuben Steff
- Dr Corey Wallace
SSANSE Pop-up Think Tank
Te kuaka marangaranga, kotahi manu i tau ki te tahuna: tau atu, tau ra.
The godwit flock has arisen; one bird has come to rest on the beach: others will follow.
The Pop Up Think Tank continues the work of the SSANSE Project by supporting policy-relevant, theoretically-informed research on the defence and foreign policy choices and challenges of small states in the new security environment. We welcome new submissions.
Editorial Board:
Professor Anne-Marie Brady
Professor Margarete Šešelgytė
Professor Baldur Thorhallsson
Professor Alan Tidwell
Special Series: Commission for a Post-Covid-19 Future
The SSANSE Project is launching a new preparedness initiative, the Commission for a Post-COVID-19 Future, to provide contestable policy advice to the New Zealand government on options for our foreign, trade and economic policy, which aim to help New Zealand recover from the economic and political damage of the pandemic. Covid-19 is both a political and economic crisis, as well as a health issue. New Zealand, along with other small states, must make major changes to our economic planning, trade, and foreign policy in order to proactively adjust to a post-Covid-19 global order.
Special Series: Commission for a Post-Covid-19 Future
| AUTHOR / INSTITUTE | POLICY BRIEF |
| Anne-Marie Brady (University of Canterbury) | Brave new world - New Zealand foreign policy in the COVID-19 era |
| Robert G Patman (University of Otago) | COVID-19 New Zealand and the new geopolitics |
| Charles Finny (Saunders Unsworth) | Hedging against trade dependency post-COVID-19 |
| Michael Reddell (Independent researcher) | Rebuilding New Zealands shattered economy in a post-COVID world |
