David Dickens

David Dickens is a former New Zealand defence strategist. He was deputy director (1996-1999) and then director (1999-2002) of the Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand.

Contents 1 Background 2 CSCAP and Track Two Diplomacy 3 Research 4 Controversy and departure 5 References 6 External links

Background

Dickens is a former soldier with the 7th Wellington and Hawkes Bay Regiment, and 2nd/1st Battalion of the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment, and Ministry of Defence official (1990-1996). He is a graduate of the Royal New Zealand Air Force Senior Command and Staff College Course (1993), and has BA with First Class Honours (1989) and PhD (1996) degrees from the Victoria University of Wellington. His thesis was New Zealand and the Vietnam War: Official Policy Advice to the Government 1960-1972.^[1] He visited the United States under the auspices of the United States State Department Visitor Programme in 1997 and India as a guest of the Indian Foreign Ministry in 2001.

CSCAP and Track Two Diplomacy

Dickens was deputy head and then head of New Zealand’s Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP). He represented New Zealand at CSCAP meetings and Co-Chaired the CSCAP Comprehensive Security and Cooperation Working Group with Malaysia’s Jawhar Hussein and China’s Ambassador Chi Chun Li. Dickens co-edited and edited many of the Working Group papers and conference proceedings.

Research

Dickens' research was published by thinks tanks including the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre of the Australian National University, the Washington based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), and the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis, New Delhi. Dickens researched a range of Asia-Pacific security issues including the implications of defence technology and the revolution in military affairs, India and Pakistan’s nuclear weapons programmes, the influence of the ASEAN Regional Forum, Five Power Defence Arrangements, the impact of the United States military presence in the Asia-Pacific, as well as the implications of global terrorism for New Zealand’s security and interests and detailed work on capability and force structure options for New Zealand.

Controversy and departure

In 1999, Dickens replaced former diplomat Terence O'Brien as Director of CSS.
Dickens was accused in parliament of leaking a letter by an Army officer in 2001, the letter advocating lobbying for greater Army funding at the expense of other services.^[2] Dickens denied leaking the letter, and the accusation was later proven false by a Defence Force investigation.^[3]

References

1. ^ "Student Publications - PhD Thesis (by Author)". Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
2. ^ "Irate MPs finger think-tank chief as defence letter leak". The New Zealand Herald. 30 August 2001. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
3. ^ Mold, Francesca (21 May 2002). "Defence strategist joins National staff". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 23 February 2010.

External links

• Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand
• ABC - Dickens on the F-16 purchase decision