by Joan Swart | Sep 20, 2026 | Defence Policy and Strategy, Global Power, Middle East, Military strategy, SANDF, STRATEGIC STUDIES
Abstract: Military power is constrained by more than weapons, soldiers and technology. From Napoleon’s disastrous Russian campaign to the US war with Iran and South Africa’s operations in Central Africa, the ability to sustain forces at distance can...
by Joan Swart | Sep 16, 2026 | Defence Policy and Strategy, Diplomacy, Energy Security, Global Power, Middle East, STRATEGIC STUDIES
Abstract: War-related disruption, economic pressure and growing public dissatisfaction are increasingly converging across the Middle East. The conditions differ from those of 2011, but their interaction could create a second-order dynamic in which external conflict...
by Joan Swart | Sep 12, 2026 | South Africa, Africa and Global Power, Anglo-Boer War (1899 - 1902), KULTURELE IDENTITEIT/CULTURAL IDENTITY, STRATEGIC STUDIES, The World Between the Lines
Abstract: Written in 1899 as America crossed into overseas empire, Rudyard Kipling’s The White Man’s Burden offers a revealing view of power, responsibility and the assumptions of imperialism. More than a century later, its deepest question remains: does the power to...
by Joan Swart | Sep 5, 2026 | Defence Policy and Strategy, Foreign Affairs (RSA), National Security - Nasionale Veiligheid, South Africa, STRATEGIC STUDIES
Abstract: As the global order becomes increasingly multipolar, South Africa faces a strategic dilemma: it possesses significant geopolitical advantages but lacks a settled conception of its national interest. This article explores whether strategic culture,...
by Joan Swart | Sep 2, 2026 | History, INSURGENCIES IN AFRICA, IRREGULAR FORCES IN AFRICA, Private Military Companies
Abstract: In 1993, pilot Crause Steyl flew the Ghost Rider into Soyo as UNITA forces advanced and the town’s defenders fled by boat. His unexpected decision to land helped turn a seemingly doomed operation around, opening the way for Executive Outcomes’ first contract...
