KEY POINTS:
John Herbst holds the title ambassador and his position is co-ordinator, Office of Reconstruction and Stabilisation.
The office was created three-and-a-half years ago. In the US, says Mr Herbst, its mission is to ensure that all the assets of the Government can be deployed under a single plan
when it is faced with instability in another country.
It has another facet, which brought him to New Zealand: "To reach out internationally to potential partners in dealing with problems of stabilisation and reconstruction."
He is going on to Australia. On this trip he has already visited Japan, China and South Korea. Links with European Union governments are already well established.
"My office sees great value in networking with other governments and with international organisations to help develop this ability to deal with instability," he said.
"We would like to see these capabilities grow, so that when we have a crisis, whether it's in the Pacific, or in the Middle East, or in Africa or Central Asia, it's possible to find the right combination to respond."
Mr Herbst has talked to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence. He said the New Zealand Government was well aware of the dangers his office was created to deal with.
"We live in a new era. We even have such concepts as super-empowered individuals or groups who in this new era are able to create serious security dangers, not necessarily to the existence of states but to the lives of the citizens of these states," he said.
"It wasn't widely appreciated 20 or 30 years ago that a country which had completely destabilised, and was off the beaten track, could pose a security threat to the US or to other countries.
"I think we've learned since 9/11 that, in fact, that is possible.
"And given that fact, given the dangers that are associated with instability like weapons proliferation, even the possibility of the spread of weapons of mass destruction, it's becoming increasingly clear to the international community that these kind of problems need to be addressed."
Mr Herbst declined to discuss individual cases - the obvious regional ones being East Timor and the Solomon Islands - which drew in New Zealand.
But he was well aware of those circumstances, and what has been going on in those countries.
"We are very much aware of the good work New Zealand and Australia have done," he said.
"It's best for me not to go into specifics ... I think the role local powers have played is admirable."
Mr Herbst confirmed that during his meetings in Wellington he had discussed Afghanistan, where New Zealand has had a 120-member Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in place for more than four years.
"We greatly appreciate the contribution New Zealand has made," he said, but he did not want to speculate on how long the PRT might be needed apart from saying "we believe it's important to stay in Afghanistan until the job is complete".
Looking at the world, Mr Herbst said the problems created by instability could be around for generations.
"We think this is a problem that isn't going to go away - and none of this is easy. Success is never guaranteed."
- NZPA
