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Stephen Chan

Professor of World Politics, SOAS, University of London

Stephen Chan was awarded an OBE for "services to Africa and higher education" in the summer of 2010, alongside receiving the 2010 Eminent Scholar in Global Development award of the International Studies Association.

Professor Chan has published 27 books on international relations and more than 200 articles and reviews in the academic and specialist press, as well as over 100 journalistic feature articles. His books include Robert Mugabe: A Life of Power and Violence, Kaunda and Southern Africa: Image and Reality in Foreign Policy, and Citizen of Africa: Conversations with Morgan Tsvangirai. His most recent work is The End of Certainty: Towards a New Internationalism.

He participated in the transition to independence of Zimbabwe, the reconstruction of Uganda after the fall of Idi Amin, and also advised and trained government ministries in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Kenya. He established a consortium that trained the Eritrean Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately before and after independence in 1993. He was also part of a consortium that trained the parliamentarians and ministers of post-Dergue Ethiopia from 1998-9. From 2006-7 he was a member of the Africa-China-US Trilateral Dialogue, an effort to establish a common set of principles to help govern the emerging trade wars involving the three continents.

South Africa election: ANC’s lost majority ushers in a new era of coalition politics

Jun 04, 2024 06:18 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

From the moment this years South African general election was called, through the whole campaign, the main question everyone here was asking was whether the African National Congress (ANC) could extend its 30-year...

Why the upcoming South African election a massive milestone for the ruling ANC

May 24, 2024 03:43 am UTC| Insights & Views Politics

South Africans governing party, the African National Congress (ANC), is in trouble. After 30 years in charge, it is scrambling for support ahead of the upcoming national elections. The ANC has run the country since the...

Russia rekindles old friendship with South Africa, its ally against apartheid

Jan 25, 2023 04:42 am UTC| Politics

The recent announcement that the South African, Russian and Chinese navies will conduct joint exercises off the east coast of South Africa between February 17 and 27, has alarmed the United States. Washington has condemned...

Zambia: debt, unpaid salaries and a poor harvest have sown seeds of crisis

May 02, 2019 17:46 pm UTC| Insights & Views

In the volatile landscape of southern Africa, Zambia is often overlooked. It played a huge role in the liberation struggles of its neighbours. The ANC, banned in South Africa by the apartheid government, established its...

New hope in Nigeria, but Zimbabwe struggles with the same old problems

Dec 04, 2018 16:39 pm UTC| Insights & Views Politics

There has been a sense of transition in both Nigeria and Zimbabwe recently. In Nigeria, Obiageli Oby Ezekwesili launched her presidential election campaign. She is not expected to win in the 2019 election. At best, she...

Zimbabwe: troubled nation now faces tough foreign policy choices

Oct 04, 2018 14:34 pm UTC| Insights & Views Law

The toxic presidency of Mugabe may be over, but the new Zimbabwean government of Emerson Mnangagwa must quickly make some hard foreign policy decisions if it is to change the countrys fortunes. For so far no major foreign...

Economy

Gold Prices Rebound as Dollar Weakens, Fed Decision Looms

Gold prices moved higher on Wednesday, snapping a three-session losing streak as a weaker U.S. dollar supported bullion. Investors also remained focused on escalating Middle East tensions, rising oil prices and the Federal...

China Inflation Accelerates in August as CPI, PPI Rise

Chinas consumer inflation strengthened in August, while producer prices climbed faster than expected, signaling a gradual improvement in domestic price pressures as Beijing works to support demand and economic growth....

Oil Prices Rally as Brent Nears $100 on U.S.-Iran Escalation

Oil prices extended their rally during Asian trading on Wednesday, with Brent crude approaching the key $100-per-barrel level as escalating U.S.-Iran tensions fueled concerns over Middle East oil supplies and shipping...

Asian Stocks Mixed as AI Chip Rally Meets Oil Surge

Asian stocks traded mixed on Wednesday as semiconductor shares extended gains on strong artificial intelligence demand, while rising oil prices and escalating Middle East tensions fueled concerns about inflation and higher...

Asian Stocks Mixed as Korean Chipmakers Rally

Asian stocks traded mixed on Tuesday as strong gains in South Korean semiconductor shares boosted the regions technology sector, while rising oil prices, higher U.S. Treasury yields and expectations for tighter monetary...

Politics

Australia Defends Social Media Algorithm Law Amid US Concerns

Australia said Wednesday that its relationship with the United States remains strong despite reports that the Trump administration has raised concerns over Canberras proposed social media algorithm regulations. Australias...

U.S. Accuses Chinese AI Firms of Extracting Model Capabilities

U.S. security agencies have accused several major Chinese artificial intelligence companies, including DeepSeek and Alibaba, of systematically extracting capabilities from advanced U.S. AI models to reduce development...

Trump Threatens Bombardier U.S. Sales Ban

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to block Canadian aircraft maker Bombardier from selling planes in the United States unless the company expands its manufacturing operations in the country, escalating tensions...

Australia Plans New Rules Giving Users Control Over Social Media Feeds

Australia has proposed new social media regulations that would give users greater control over the content appearing in their feeds, expanding the governments efforts to strengthen online safety and regulate major...

Cuba Says No US Talks as Blockade Costs Hit $8.1 Billion

Cubas foreign minister said Monday that no negotiations with the United States are currently taking place and there are no plans for future talks, as Havana blamed Washingtons decades-old trade embargo for more than $8...

Science

Blue Origin New Glenn Explosion Could Delay Launch Operations Until 2028

Blue Origin is facing a significant setback after a dramatic explosion involving its New Glenn rocket severely damaged a launch pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. According to NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman, repairs to the...

Blue Origin New Glenn Rocket Explodes During Launch Pad Test, Delaying Space Ambitions

Blue Origin suffered a major setback after its uncrewed New Glenn rocket exploded during a launch pad test in Florida on Thursday, raising new challenges for Jeff Bezos space company as it competes with Elon Musks SpaceX...

SpaceX Delays Starship V3 Launch Ahead of Potential Record IPO

SpaceX on Thursday postponed the highly anticipated launch of its 12th Starship rocket test from Texas after technical issues interrupted the final countdown. The company now plans to attempt the Starship V3 launch again...

Trump Administration Releases New UFO Files and Apollo Mission Records

The U.S. Defense Department has released dozens of previously classified UFO-related files following an order from President Donald Trump, sparking renewed debate over unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) and government...

China vs. NASA: The New Moon Race and What's at Stake by 2030

The space race is back and this time, its a direct competition between the United States and China for dominance on the lunar surface. NASAs Artemis II mission recently made history when four astronauts flew farther into...

Technology

Qualcomm Stock Jumps on Amazon AI Chip Deal

Qualcomm Technologies (NASDAQ: QCOM) shares surged 9.5% after the chipmaker announced a multi-generational partnership with Amazon to develop custom silicon and high-speed optical connectivity technology for artificial...

Google Revamps EU Search Results to Meet DMA Rules

Alphabets Google has introduced major changes to its search results in Europe as it seeks to comply with European Union antitrust rules under the Digital Markets Act (DMA). Google said Tuesday that the overhaul represents...

Anthropic Drops $6 Billion Decart AI Acquisition Talks

Anthropic has reportedly abandoned plans to acquire artificial intelligence startup Decart AI after exploring a potential transaction valued at roughly $6 billion, according to Bloomberg News. The maker of the Claude AI...

Huawei Launches Mate XT2 Foldable Phone in China

Huawei unveiled its latest flagship foldable smartphone, the Mate XT2, on Monday as the Chinese technology giant looks to maintain its dominance in the countrys premium smartphone market amid growing competition from Apple...

Nvidia CEO Says AGI Has Arrived With OpenAI GPT-6 Astra

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang has declared that artificial general intelligence, or AGI, has arrived, pointing to OpenAIs newly launched GPT-6 Astra as a major milestone in the accelerating development of...