The consensus is that it was Ebrahim Rasool’s responsibility to hold his tongue, a kind of golden rule in diplomacy.
- Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria., University of Pretoria
La uestions palestine demeure le seul dossier de libération d'un peuple sur lequel le soutien de l'Afrique du Sud a été indéniablement constant.
Palestine remains the single issue on which South Africa’s support for a people’s struggle has been unquestionably consistent.
Il n'a pas compris que la lutte pour la justice et la liberté en Afrique australe était en train de changer le monde - et la diplomatie elle-même.
He failed to understand that the struggle for justice and freedom in southern Africa was changing the world - and diplomacy itself.
South Africans seem to be fascinated with the way in which spying is entwined in the country’s politics.
South Africa’s universities are detached from society because of a waning public and civic sector that once fueled the anti-apartheid struggle. Here’s what can be done.
Presidents Nelson Mandela and Thabo Mbeki sought to use South Africa’s diplomatic service to enable the country to punch above its weight.
The single greatest failure of current punditry is the refusal to recognise that context matters. A one-size-fits-all approach to solving Zimbabwe’s complex set of problems simply won’t help.
Under the Trump administration Africa is only likely to matter in the fight against terrorism and in providing American companies with economic opportunities.
Notorious apartheid spy Craig Williamson’s sole interest was in reproducing what he regarded as his birthright – wealth and racial privilege.
Next year South Africa’s Stellenbosch University will celebrate its centenary. A recent conference to discuss the anniversary has reminded everyone present that knowledge is a fickle mistress.
The world’s best known talk show host has become the president-elect of the most powerful country in the world. Trump running the US is unlikely to be good news for Africa.
Talking about food is a productive way to understand a complex world. The dinner table is a place where the shame of poverty is most acutely experienced.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki remains a puzzle to many of his compatriots. A new book, ‘The Thabo Mbeki I know’, will help to understand him better.
The unavoidable regime of publication pervades contemporary academic life across the world. While presented as a virtuous thing, it can actually suffocate the academic profession.
One of the many intriguing ideas of the Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, was this: the limits of my language means the limits of my world. Does this explain the failure to see the gathering gloom…
In contrast to what we have been taught - or teach our students - we are living in an increasingly hybrid world.
To save mankind from the scourge of war… These eight words drawn from the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations have been ringing in my head for the past week. Most believe that they were penned…
Over the past two decades, it has not been easy for any country – let alone a newly freed one, like post-apartheid South Africa – to understand the rapidly changing world.
The infamous Muldergate scandal of the 1970s was the exemplar case of apartheid’s “unorthodox diplomacy” of buying influence around the world.
By investing in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, South Africa sacrifices investment in pressing societal needs. Instead, the country should be mobilised around the national goal of fixing schooling.
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