30 June 2014
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – Various members of the Southern African Defence and Security Management (SADSEM) Network contributed articles to a special issue of the Journal of Public Policy in Africa (Joppa), published in June 2014 around the topic ‘National Security Policy and Practice: Case Studies from Southern Africa’.
In his introduction to the special issue, SADSEM’s Anthoni Van Nieuwkerk explains that the idea emanated from a conference in which the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) invited a number of Southern African academics to reflect on the relationship between national security and the right to information.
A range of papers reflecting the experiences of Angola, Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe were commissioned from members of the Southern African Defence and Security Management (SADSEM) network.These papers were presented at a regional workshop, in which it became apparent that the commissioned papers broke new ground in reflecting on national security thinking and practices amongst member states of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).
It was this realisation that led to the articles being assembled into a special edition of the Journal of Public Policy in Africa (Joppa). Professor Van Nieuwkerk explains that the country studies – which arose from the earlier OSISA/SADSEM workshop – are written from national perspectives and are similarly structured to allow the reader to explore common (and divergent) trends.
JOPPA is a biannual journal published by Africa University’s Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance (IPLG) in partnership with OSISA.
SADSEM is the African Security Sector Network’s regional hub for Southern Africa.