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ON 12-14 July 2017, the South African Council on International Relations (SACOIR) held the first of three interactive seminars about South Africa’s place, role and standing in Africa.

Organised by the SACOIR working group on Africa, the seminar series is aimed at engaging with experts in the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (DIRCO), other relevant state actors, and analysts in academia and the non-state sector to assist it with:

• Examining and assessing South Africa’s current role and standing in Africa;
• Determining its will and capacity to lead Africa’s renewal in governance, development and security; and
• Recommending appropriate steps to decision-makers in government and the non-state sector for achieving these objectives.

The event was co-hosted by JIAS as well as the School of Governance of the University of the Witwatersrand. Prof Peter Vale, Director of JIAS, serves on the SACOIR Working Group on Africa.

Keynote address: Global trends, U.S. policy and Africa

The opening address was delivered by Gregory F. Treverton, chairman of the US National Intelligence Council under the Obama administration, and previous director of the RAND Corporation’s Centre for Global Risk and Security, Intelligence Policy Centre and International Security and Defence Policy Centre.

Entitled ‘Global Trends, U.S. Policy and Africa’, the address contained projections about the global future over a five-year and 20-year period. It concluded with an analysis of US policy under the Trump administration and what it might mean for Africa – and South Africa – in the context of these broader global trends.

The presentation provoked a lively discussion. More presentations and discussions followed over the next two days.