30 May 2022

New Zealand faces increasingly complex international dynamics in its neighbourhood and beyond. The COVID-19 pandemic has convulsed global travel and trade, new security arrangements are reshaping the strategic landscape, and even events further afield are having direct impacts that are felt here. Chris Allison, the Counsellor for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Wellington, will introduce aims of U.S. policy in the region and provide insights on how the United States and New Zealand can work together in a rapidly changing world.

Keynote speaker

Chris Allison is the Counselor for Political and Economic Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Wellington, New Zealand. Previously, he headed the political and economic office at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai, China (2019-2022); was a member of the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff (S/P) at the U.S. Department of State (2018-2019); and served as the Deputy Director of the Office of Global Change in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), leading U.S. engagement in multilateral negotiations to address climate (2016-2018). Prior to joining OES, Chris spent four years at U.S. Embassy Beijing, first working on U.S.-China trade issues and later as the Counselor for Environment, Science, Technology, and Health, where he played a key role in negotiations leading to the 2014 U.S.-China Joint Announcement on Climate Change. Chris is a graduate of St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and holds a master’s degree in international relations from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He is joined in Wellington by his wife, Beth Rollins, and their sons Max and Henry.