This symposium, focusing on BRICS in Africa, took place on 3 July 2017, in Johannesburg at the South African BRICS Think Tank (SABTT), which is hosted by the National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIHSS).

The symposium was an informative and strategic multi-stakeholder discussion that sought to address the topic of situating the future of BRICS in changing global dynamics with a closer focus on BRICS in Africa in relation to trade and development finance, BRICS soft power dynamics and where South Africa fits into this outlook and how it is able to leverage its position. As BRICS countries, such as China, through the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), and India, through the India-Africa Summits (IAS) intensify their engagement on the African continent, the symposium looked into the role of the BRICS countries in Africa, especially given the potential of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) and its Africa Regional Centre (ARC) in Johannesburg. This event thus explored how South Africa uses its position within the BRICS to promote its African agenda and the BRICS engagement in Africa.

Charges of sponsoring terrorism have surrounded Iran from the earliest days of the Islamic revolution (1979) to the present. The United States (US), along with the rest of the West have repeatedly stated that Iran is the principal state sponsor of terrorism, providing a wide array of weaponry funds, safe harbour and logistical support to Shi’ite and occasionally Sunni terrorist groups (this paper will solely focus on Hamas and Hezbollah). In some cases, it is also claimed that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) directly perpetrate acts of terrorism (Stearns 2012). Essentially, among analysts and academics it is commonly argued that Iran utilises ‘terrorism’ to pursue its foreign policy objectives.

The African continent continues to face many complex challenges ranging from issues of governance, poor socioeconomic development within its borders to growing terror attacks from extremist groups. Given this context, Africa’s own insecurity is serving as a source of concern for not only the global community but also for African leaders. This growing concern is one of the contributing factors behind the phrase ‘African solutions to African problems’...

The United States of America is undergoing a major multi-dimensional conjunctural transition, one affecting the politics of its domestic and foreign relations with global implications. As such, the role and future of Black America as a pivotal nation within the African Diaspora caught up in this transition deserves critical analysis in the wake of the election of 2016. This article was initially drafted in January 2016 and went unpublished. It was motivated by unease about the state of black political consciousness, focus and mobilizational sense of urgency in the election year that was unfolding.

Following reports from the World Health Organisation (WHO) which approximate the number of humans killed in violent conflict to 700,000 per annum, and a further hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes and exposed to degradable inhumane conditions from which they die, the material and human cost of conflict and post-conflict reconstruction or relapse prevention are alarmingly and disproportionately higher than conflict prevention.1 Put simply, conflicts strain and reverse economic growth at an average of 2.2% per annum and the cost of reconstruction is estimated to be between US $4 and $54 billion2 which is dwarfed by an estimated $1204 billion per annum for worldwide military spending.