Redefining the Role of the Military in Democratization

Abstract

Ka tangi te titi, ka tangi te kaka, ka tangi hoki ahau. Tihei mauri ora. Rau rangatira ma, nau mai, piki mai, haere mai ki te Whare Wananga o Waitaha. No reira, tena koutou, tena koutou, kia ora tatou katoa. It is my very great pleasure as Chancellor to welcome all of you to the University of Canterbury here this morning and to have been invited to open this international conference for scholars from New Zealand and around the world to discuss two very critical issues of our time, democracy and the military, in relation to each other. This two-day event has been organised by the International Political Science Association’s Research Committee on Democratization and the Military, and is hosted by the University of Canterbury’s own Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, and the Centre for Defence and Strategic Studies at Massey University, and is supported by the United Nations development Programme. Special thanks are due to all those from these institutions who conceived the conference and have worked so tirelessly to bring us together today.