Demian Smith's guest appearances

Demian Smith

Early Edition with Kate Hawkesby

The NZ-US Podcast

Mike Moore

Stephen Jacobi

Simon Bridges

Julie Smith

Greta Thunberg

John Townsend

Phil Jones

Chris Henry

James Logan

Bernie Sanders

Matt Bell

Sean Palmer

Brad Olsen

Jennifer Lopez

Jeff Bezos

OwlTail

This week's discussion is with Demian Smith, Political and Economic Counselor in the US Embassy here in Wellington. He is an experienced well-known, well-liked, well-respected and highly effective diplomat. Demian's three year posting is coming to an end and he'll return to Washington DC later this month. For the discussion I’m joined by NZUS Council chair - Leon Grice - for a very open conversation with Demian about his time here, what it takes to be a good diplomat and whether it is different being a US diplomat, we reflect on some of the big political and geopolitical shifts, movements and events of the last three years. We look at the current challenging and complex terrain in the NZ-US relationship - China, the WTO, and the multilateral/international order - where there may often be agreement on the need for reform but differences in the approach, and what he thinks the future holds. Above all it is a discussion that celebrates democracy, our shared democratic values, and the ability of democratic nations to change. Host biography: Jordan Small: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordancsmall/jsmall@nzuscouncil.orgGuest biography:Demian Smith: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demiansmith/Leon Grice: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leongrice/For comments and feedback:Email: thefridaydownload@nzuscouncil.orgFacebook: facebook.com/nzuscouncilTwitter: twitter.com/nzuscouncilWebsite: nzuscouncil.orgCredits – opening and closing music:Happy Boy Theme Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/About the NZUS CouncilEstablished in 2001, we are a non-partisan, non-government organisation focused on advancing New Zealand’s interests in a strong bilateral relationship with the US.

This week's discussion is with Demian Smith, Political and Economic Counselor in the US Embassy here in Wellington. He is an experienced well-known, well-liked, well-respected and highly effective diplomat. Demian's three year posting is coming to an end and he'll return to Washington DC later this month.  For the discussion I’m joined by NZUS Council chair - Leon Grice - for a very open conversation with Demian about his time here, what it takes to be a good diplomat and whether it is different being a US diplomat, we reflect on some of the big political and geopolitical shifts, movements and events of the last three years. We look at the current challenging and complex terrain in the NZ-US relationship - China, the WTO, and the multilateral/international order - where there may often be agreement on the need for reform but differences in the approach, and what he thinks the future holds. Above all it is a discussion that celebrates democracy, our shared democratic values, and the ability of democratic nations to change. Host biography: Jordan Small: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordancsmall/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordancsmall/</a> jsmall@nzuscouncil.orgGuest biography: Demian Smith: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/demiansmith/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/demiansmith/</a> Leon Grice: <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leongrice/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.linkedin.com/in/leongrice/</a>For comments and feedback: Email: thefridaydownload@nzuscouncil.org Facebook: <a href="http://facebook.com/nzuscouncil" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">facebook.com/nzuscouncil</a> Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/nzuscouncil" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">twitter.com/nzuscouncil</a> Website: <a href="http://nzuscouncil.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">nzuscouncil.org</a>Credits – opening and closing music: Happy Boy Theme Kevin MacLeod (<a href="http://incompetech.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">incompetech.com</a>) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/</a>About the NZUS Council Established in 2001, we are a non-partisan, non-government organisation focused on advancing New Zealand’s interests in a strong bilateral relationship with the US.

Demian Smith: What makes for a good US diplomat? 

Americans in New Zealand will be marking Independence Day today.US President Donald Trump is putting tanks on the streets for a parade at an event that could include bombers and fighter jets.Democrats are accusing him of using the celebration as a presidential vanity project.However, things are somewhat more subdued here.US Embassy Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Demian Smith told Kate Hawkesby he and his colleagues have a federal holiday today but had a great Independence Day reception in Lower Hutt on Monday."We had great band. Ambassador [Scott] Brown got on stage with his guitar for a while. We had a good thousand people come out to celebrate."He says that he and his colleagues will use the day off to remember what the day means."It's about liberty and independence, fireworks, parties, get together, but also talk about what it means to be an American and cutting your own way in the world."

Americans in New Zealand will be marking Independence Day today. US President Donald Trump is putting tanks on the streets for a parade at an event that could include bombers and fighter jets. Democrats are accusing him of using the celebration as a presidential vanity project. However, things are somewhat more subdued here. US Embassy Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Demian Smith told Kate Hawkesby he and his colleagues have a federal holiday today but had a great Independence Day reception in Lower Hutt on Monday. "We had great band. Ambassador [Scott] Brown got on stage with his guitar for a while. We had a good thousand people come out to celebrate." He says that he and his colleagues will use the day off to remember what the day means. "It's about liberty and independence, fireworks, parties, get together, but also talk about what it means to be an American and cutting your own way in the world."

Demian Smith: Americans in New Zealand celebrating Independence Day