Episode 75 – Elites’ Politics and Oligarchic Power in South Africa
Mar 24 2025
Centre for African Conflict and Development
Centre for African Conflict and Development
Episode 75 - Elites' Politics and Oligarchic Power in South Africa
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Dr. Michael Nwankpa discusses about the Elites’ Politics and Oligarchic Power in South Africa with Dr. Mesrob Vartavarian.

Mesrob wear two hats and study two areas, his research and writing focus on colonial violence and power elites in postcolonial states. He draw on case studies from the Asia-Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa using an interdisciplinary approach that combines elite theory, comparative politics, and historical sociology.

Mesrob publications have appeared in various academic journals and digital venues. He currently teach at the University of California, San Diego.

About the Podcast

The Conflict & Development in Africa podcast brings experts from Africa and the world as guests to discuss critical conflict and development issues that affect Africa. Our guests include practitioners, academics, journalists, researchers, policy makers and advocates that are renowned and are nationally and internationally recognized for their work, expertise and contribution to conflict and development issues in Africa. Our audience includes policy makers, governments, researchers, students, businesses and anyone that is interested in conflict and development issues in Africa.

About the Host

Dr Michael Nwankpa has an extensive experience spanning over a decade studying, researching, writing and consulting on conflict and development issues in Africa.

Michael Nwankpa has a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Roehampton, London, UK. He has held several research fellowships including as a Rice University Fellow and a terrorism research Fellow (past) at the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Response to Terrorism (START), University of Maryland. He is currently a fellow at the Royal United Service Institute for Defense and Security Studies (RUSI) and a research fellow at the Geneva-based Centre on Armed Groups. Dr. Nwankpa has extensive experience studying counterterrorism and counterinsurgency strategies, advising relevant government development departments and security agencies, and consulting for multilateral organizations. Michael is the author of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, 1999-2021: A Militarized Democracy (Routledge 2022) and co-author of the seminal work on Boko Haram, The Boko Haram Reader: From Nigerian Preachers to the Islamic State (Oxford University Press/Hurst 2018). He has written several articles and is currently working on three book projects.

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