Theo Neethling

Professor and Head: Political Studies and Governance in the Humanities Faculty, University of the Free State

Theo Neethling has held the position of Professor and Head of the Department of Political Studies and Governance at the University of the Free State since 1 April 2009. He obtained his MA degree in 1989 from the Potchefstroom University (currently North-West University) and his DLitt et Phil in 1992 from the University of South Africa, both in the field of International Politics. After serving in the former Department of Constitutional Development in Pretoria, he joined the Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy) of Stellenbosch University. In this regard, he served as a senior researcher in the Centre for Military Studies. In 2002 he was appointed as Associate Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science (Mil.) and promoted to Professor of Political Science in 2005. He served as Chair of the Department of Political Science (Mil.) in the Faculty of Military Science from 2003 to early-2009, until he moved to the University of the Free State.
Prof. Neethling is the author (and co-author in a few instances) of more than 115 publicised outputs in scientific and popular scientific publications, including 45 articles in accredited (listed) academic journals and seventeen chapters to scholarly book publications. These publications appeared in South Africa, Australia, Germany, India, Pakistan, Ethiopia, the Russian Federation, Canada, Slovenia, the Czech Republic the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Zimbabwe. Furthermore, he has presented 61 research papers at national and international level. In this regard, his project work has taken him to governmental and academic institutions in all five of Africa’s regions, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America. He also lectured in a visiting capacity at foreign institutions, most recently in Japan at the Osaka University’s School for International Public Policy. He is currently serving on the editorial board of four academic journals, namely Scientia Militaria, the Journal of Contemporary History, Military and Strategic Affairs, and Ante Portas – Security Studies. Prof Neethling is rated as a C2 category researcher by the National Research Foundation (since 2009) and his research interests mainly concern security studies in the African context; Africa’s international relations; and South Africa’s foreign relations.