Reevaluating South African Foreign Policy studies –Western Cape branch

Image: Getty, Odd Andersen / AFP
Image: Getty, Odd Andersen / AFP

During South Africa’s first quarter century of democracy the approach of South African foreign policy analysts has generally remained the same.

Scholars typically draw on secondary material from their colleagues, newspaper reporting, and the public speeches of government officials to elucidate how South Africa crafts and carries out its foreign policy.

This approach is now changing. The accessibility of previously classified archival documents and the availability of former policy makers for research interviews promise new insight into the process of South African foreign policy decision-making. SAIIA invites you to an in-depth discussion on the state of foreign policy studies in South Africa and the power of primary research to alter key ideas about the conduct and content of South African foreign policy.

Speaker

Dr Christopher Williams was a Bradlow Fellow at SAIIA and Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Witwatersrand. During his dissertation research he consulted a wide array of South African archives and interviewed more than two dozen former South African defence and foreign affairs officials.

Related material:

Listen to the audio recording of the event

13 Jun 2019