Peter Cozens

Last updated

Peter Cozens is the Director of Finance for the New Zealand Oceans Foundation. [1]

Contents

Biography

Peter Cozens grew up and attended school in the United Kingdom.[ citation needed ] From 1964 to 1972 he served in the British India Steam Navigation Company.[ citation needed ] He saw service in the company's cadetship, general cargo ships, passenger and cruise liners and consequently visited many ports of call in the Indian Ocean and in Asia. From 1972 to 1993 he served in the Royal New Zealand Navy and saw service in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans, retiring at the rank of Commander.[ citation needed ] He studied at the Royal Australian Naval Staff College and later at Victoria University of Wellington where he researched Asian culture and civilisation, graduating with a Master of Arts.[ citation needed ]

In 1995 he was appointed as Administrator (or in some references Operations Manager) at the Centre for Strategic Studies under original Director Terence O'Brien.[ citation needed ] Following the departure of David Dickens in 2002, Cozens was promoted to Director. He also served as Executive Director of the New Zealand Membership Committee of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP). He retired in 2009 and a book of essays was presented in his honour. [2] In April 2019, he came out of retirement and joined Dr. Lance Beath and John Martin to form the New Zealand Oceans Foundation.

Views on security issues

Cozens is an advocate for non-official or track two diplomacy. In a submission to the New Zealand government's 'Seriously Asia' conference in 2003, he expressed concerns about the country's commitment to understanding Asia. In particular, he lamented the lack of resources allocated to the work of think-tanks and track two organizations. Cozens has been quoted as saying the New Zealand Defence Force also needs to increase its expertise, in particular that there is a "need to lift the academic ability of our officer cadre: this is well overdue for real professional development." [3] As a former Executive Director of the Centre for Strategic Studies, Cozens' duties include directing research, giving speeches, providing media commentary and contributing to the School of Government's Masters of Strategic Studies degree. He managed several full-time staff members, and also oversaw a number of the Centre's Senior Fellows, including former director Terence O'Brien, University of Auckland academic Stephen Hoadley, and Lance Beath.

Cozens has outlined his own views on strategic policy and security issues in numerous papers and books on terrorism, security and maritime cooperation in the Pacific-Asian region. In a 2005 newspaper interview, he called for a "softly softly, catchy monkey" approach to counter-terrorism, saying it would "reward authorities more than a 'reds under the bed', or 'terrorist under the bed' approach." [4] In response to an Australian report that warned about future resource competition in the Antarctic, Cozens said the New Zealand Government "should think in terms of increasing New Zealand's military presence" near the south pole. [5] The idea was not welcomed by the New Zealand Defence Force. In an article in the Australian journal 'Security Challenges' he argued that the New Zealand Defence Force should be renamed the "Armed Services of New Zealand" to reflect the fact that it increasingly performs a range of non-traditional functions. [6] Cozens has also been a dogged advocate for New Zealand to adopt an oceans policy, noting that "whether it be swimming, or being at the beach, diving or watching seabirds, New Zealanders love the water." [7]

Cozens' views have not found universal support. A letter to The Listener magazine in May 2006 described him as an "ex-navy wallah" who needs his "head read". [8]

Health issues and retirement

In early 2007 Peter Cozens was taken to hospital for stress related heart problems related to overwork. He recovered well. In 2009, he retired to Motueka, where he continues his research and writing about nautical and maritime subjects and where he is building a boat. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal New Zealand Navy</span> Maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force

The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent purchase of the cruiser HMS Philomel, which by 1921 had been moored in Auckland as a training ship. A slow buildup occurred during the interwar period, and then perhaps the infant Navy's most notable event occurred when HMS Achilles fought alongside two other Royal Navy cruisers at the Battle of the River Plate against the German ship, Graf Spee, in December 1939.

The Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group (SP&I) of the Australian Government Department of Defence is responsible for defence diplomacy, strategic policy, international security, and military intelligence co-ordination and advice to the Prime Minister of Australia, Minister for Defence, Secretary of the Department of Defence, and Chief of the Defence Force. The Defence Strategic Policy and Intelligence Group is led by the Deputy Secretary for Strategic Policy and Intelligence and comprises three policy divisions and two intelligence agencies.

The Australian Intelligence Community (AIC) and the National Intelligence Community (NIC) or National Security Community of the Australian Government are the collectives of statutory intelligence agencies, policy departments, and other government agencies concerned with protecting and advancing the national security and national interests of the Commonwealth of Australia. The intelligence and security agencies of the Australian Government have evolved since the Second World War and the Cold War and saw transformation and expansion during the Global War on Terrorism with military deployments in Afghanistan, Iraq and against ISIS in Syria. Key international and national security issues for the Australian Intelligence Community include terrorism and violent extremism, cybersecurity, transnational crime, the rise of China, and Pacific regional security.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Defence College</span> Division within the Australian Department of Defence

The Australian Defence College (ADC) comprises three joint education and training organisations operated by the Australian Defence Force in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ANZUS</span> 1951 collective security treaty between Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S.

The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty is a 1951 non-binding collective security agreement initially formed as a trilateral agreement between Australia, New Zealand, and the United States; and from 1986 an agreement between New Zealand and Australia, and separately, Australia and the United States, to co-operate on military matters in the Pacific Ocean region, although today the treaty is taken to relate to conflicts worldwide. It provides that an armed attack on any of the three parties would be dangerous to the others, and that each should act to meet the common threat. It set up a committee of foreign ministers that can meet for consultation.

The Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand (CSS:NZ) is an international and military affairs research centre located in Wellington, New Zealand. Formerly jointly supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Defence, New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Victoria University of Wellington, it is now a part of Victoria University's School of History, Philosophy, Political Science and International Relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Ferguson (RNZAF officer)</span>

Air Marshal Sir Bruce Reid Ferguson, is a retired Royal New Zealand Air Force officer who served as Chief of the New Zealand Defence Force and Director of the Government Communications Security Bureau. He took up the appointment when the previous director, Warren Tucker, was appointed as Director of the Security Intelligence Service on 1 November 2006. Ferguson's term of appointment was for four years, stepping down from the role in 2011. Following his retirement, in July 2012, he was appointed as a Justice of the Peace for New Zealand.

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema was a Pakistani political scientist, cricketer, and a professor of International Relations and was last working as Dean, Faculty of Contemporary Studies, National Defence University, Islamabad - Pakistan.

Dipankar Banerjee is a retired major general of the Indian Army based in India. He is the founding director of the Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.

David Murray Horner, is an Australian military historian and academic.

The Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (SDSC) is a university-based institute that is situated in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at the Australian National University. It is Australia's oldest-established centre for the study of strategic, defence and wider security issues and a leading regional think tank on these topics. The centre was established in 1966 by Professor T.B. Millar, then a senior fellow at the ANU's Department of International Relations, in order to "advance the study of Australian, regional, and global strategic and defence issues". The current head of SDSC is Brendan Taylor. Previous Heads include Emeritus Professor Paul Dibb and Professor Hugh White, who both also served as the Deputy Secretary for Strategy and Intelligence of the Department of Defence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Leahy</span>

Lieutenant General Peter Francis Leahy, is a retired senior officer of the Australian Army, whose military career culminated with his appointment as Chief of the Army from 2002 until 2008. He has been director of the National Security Institute, University of Canberra, since October 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terence O'Brien (New Zealand diplomat)</span> New Zealand diplomat (1936–2022)

Terence Christopher O'Brien was a New Zealand diplomat. He led New Zealand in 1993 to a seat on the United Nations Security Council and played a strong role in helping to reshape New Zealand's perceptions of itself as a small but fiercely independent nation in the South Pacific.

David Dickens is a former New Zealand defence strategist. He was deputy director (1996-2001) and then director (2001-2002) of the Centre for Strategic Studies: New Zealand.

The S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) is an autonomous graduate school and policy-oriented think tank within the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Founded in 1996 as the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, RSIS offers graduate education in international affairs, taught by an array of international faculty. The school is named after former Deputy Prime Minister S. Rajaratnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. Lawrence S. Prabhakar</span>

Dr. W. Lawrence S. Prabhakar, M.A, Ph.D. is an associate professor of Strategic Studies and International Relations in the department of Political Science at Madras Christian College, India and Adjunct Research Fellow, S.Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies</span> Teaching and research institute of the University of Tasmania

The Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) is a teaching and research institute of the University of Tasmania in Hobart, Tasmania. IMAS was established in 2010, building upon the university's partnership with CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere and the Australian Antarctic Division in cooperative Antarctic research and Southern Ocean research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ross Babbage</span>

Ross Eden Babbage is the Chief Executive Officer of Strategic Forum Pty Ltd and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) in Washington DC. Babbage is also Managing Director of Strategy International, a national security consulting and educational services company. Babbage formerly held the position as Head of Strategic Analysis in the Office of National Assessments and Assistant Secretary for ANZUS and then Force Development in the Department of Defence. He has also been an advisor to various government ministers and departments

Ashok K. Mehta is a former major general of the Indian Army, as well as a radio and television commentator and a columnist on defence and security issues. He was a founding member of the Defence Planning Staff in the Indian Ministry of Defence. He is also the elder brother of the renowned journalist and editor, Vinod Mehta. Ashok Mehta is married to journalist Aditi Phadnis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jasjit Singh (IAF officer)</span>

Air Commodore Jasjit Singh, AVSM, VrC, VM was an Indian Air Force officer, writer and military strategist. In his military career, he was awarded the Vir Chakra during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. He last served as the Director of Operations of the IAF.

References

  1. ↑ "NZ Oceans Foundation - About Us". NZ Oceans Foundation.
  2. ↑ James Veitch (ed.), Strategic Manœuvres: Security in the Asia-Pacific. Centre for Strategic Studies. 2009.
  3. ↑ Denis Welch, "The disarming of New Zealand", The Listener, 29 April 2006
  4. ↑ "Civil rights at risk in terror backlash," The New Zealand Herald, 29 September 2005
  5. ↑ Michael Field and David Dickens, "Fears of Cold War in the Antarctic" The Dominion-Post, 7 April 2007
  6. ↑ Peter Cozens, "Some reflections on the notion of defence and the use of armed force: a perspective from New Zealand", Security Challenges, vol.2, no. 3
  7. ↑ Patman, Robert G.; Iati, Iati; Kiglics, Balazs (2017-12-28). New Zealand And The World: Past, Present And Future. World Scientific. ISBN   978-981-323-241-9.
  8. ↑ "Letters, The Listener, 13–19 May 2006
  9. ↑ "About us". New Zealand Oceans Foundation. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.