I am a PhD candidate in history. My doctoral project, The Great Balancing Act: Britain, South Africa and the Namibia Question, 1974-90, sheds light on Britain's role in the Namibian liberation struggle. The thesis will be completed in 2024.
Research interests
- International political and diplomatic history after 1945
- Great power politics and international institutions
- North-South relations
- The Cold War
- Decolonisation
- African history
- British history
- Transnational history
PhD Project
The title of my PhD project is The Great Balancing Act: Britain, South Africa and the Namibia Question, 1974-90. Through a broad selection of sources from a number of physical and digital archives, the project exmines Britain's handling of the controversial Namibia Question.
South Africa's illegal occupation of Namibia was a hot question on the global political agenda until Namibia's independence in 1990. Though Britain did not originally have a formal role in the conflict, its economic, strategic and political interests in southern Africa eventually drew it into the conflict. This project examines the production and exercise of British Namibia policy after 1974; during this period Britain entered the conflict as a mediator, while the regional power balance changed, the Cold War gripped southern Africa and the global condemnation of imperialism and apartheid reached its climax.
The project contributes new knowledge to several fields, including British foreign policy in the 1970s and 1980s, postcolonial relations, the Cold War in southern Africa, the Namibian independence struggle and the end of Apartheid.
Professor Michael J. Geary is the main supervisor, and Professor Gary Love is co-supervisor.
Internationalisation
Visiting Research Student at Birkbeck, University of London (Spring 2020).
Education
I hold a BA in History (including a one-year programme in African Studies), and an additional one-year programme in Comparative Literature. I also hold an MA in History from NTNU. My masters’ thesis, Great Britain’s policy on the Uganda-Tanzania War (1978-9): A profound lack of confidence as a major power?, examined Britain’s role in the conflict leading to Idi Amin’s fall.
