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MFAT's Strategic Foreign Policy Assessment

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade is undertaking its triennial Strategic Foreign Policy Assessment. The Assessment will examine the international context New Zealand will navigate in the decade to 2036, and what this means for us.

The Assessment will consider:
  • the most important changes and drivers we see happening in the world
  • what those changes mean for our relationships
  • what they mean for our region — the Pacific and the Indo-Pacific
  • what they mean for New Zealand

The Assessment assumes that New Zealand has a set of enduring interests:
  • A safer, more prosperous and more sustainable future for New Zealanders achieved via:
  • a rules-based international system that supports New Zealand priorities
  • a security environment that keeps New Zealand people and activities safe
  • conditions and connections that enable New Zealanders to prosper
  • global action on issues that matter to New Zealand

We invite submissions from members of the New Zealand public to inform our Strategic Assessment. Submissions should address any or all of the questions below. Please provide any feedback by 5pm 24 December 2025

Your responses are voluntary. Please avoid sharing personal or identifiable information unless necessary. Any personal information you provide will only be used to understand your submission and will be managed in accordance with our privacy obligations. Personal information will not be included in the Strategic Assessment. Do not include sensitive information.
1.Submissions may be the subject of requests under the Official Information Act 1982, which could result in their release. We apply the provisions of the Official Information Act when assessing whether to withhold or release such information under the Act. Select okay to continue.(Required.)
2.Are you submitting a response to this survey on behalf of:(Required.)
3.Please share the name of the group or organisation for which you are submitting. If you are submitting in an individual capacity, there is no obligation to share your name. Please either enter your name or write N/A.(Required.)
4.What are the big international issues you think New Zealand will have to navigate over the next 10 years, and what are the opportunities you think New Zealand can pursue? Please keep your response to 500 words or less.
5.What do you consider New Zealand’s foreign policy needs to do to protect and advance our interests in the world over the next 10 years? Please keep your response to 500 words or less.
6.For you, your community, organisation or business: What matters most in the world beyond New Zealand? What places and international relationships matter most? What do you think are New Zealand’s greatest strengths and weaknesses in our international engagement? Please keep your response to 500 words or less.
7.Do you have any other thoughts on the international context you would like the team to consider? Please keep your response to 500 words or less.
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