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Military History Circle - The Rhodesian War: Thirty Years On
12:45, 23 May 2008RUSI, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET
Link to map: multimap
About the event:
This event will feature a brief audio-visual presentation by the co-authors, Professor Paul Moorcraft and Dr Peter McLaughlin and will be chaired by Dr Knox Chitiyo, Head of the Africa Programme, RUSI (all three having taught war studies at the University of Zimbabwe). With the backdrop of dramatic events in today’s Zimbabwe, this should prove to be both an historical analysis and a lively discussion of contemporary events.
This classic account of the Rhodesian war has been revised and updated 25 years after it was originally published (as Chimurenga: The War in Rhodesia). Widely praised by military experts worldwide, it became a standard text for the study of counter-insurgency, especially its application to the current operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The RUSI Journal described the original book as: ‘An extremely useful account full of valuable nuggets of information…It will be some time before this book, with its perception of the struggle from both sides, is supplemented’.
The 2008 book covers the three main stages of the war. Initially, from 1965, when the security forces were winning, to a ‘no-win’ war from 1972-1976 and then finally to the intense period from 1976-1979 when white Rhodesians, led by Ian Smith, were saved from defeat by the Lancaster House talks in London. The military structure, strategy and tactics of both sides are analysed with graphic details of individual contacts in the bush to the daring raids into neighbouring states. The book also considers the international pressures on the rebel state and the social effects of the war inside the country on both blacks and whites.
The immediate aftermath of the war is examined, in particular Zimbabwe’s continuing conflict with South Africa pre-Nelson Mandela. The final chapter looks at the war from the perspective of the last three decades, especially in the light of Robert Mugabe’s destruction of a once-prosperous land. Fresh information on intelligence dirty tricks, scandals, and political back-stabbing will generate further debate about this erstwhile British colony transformed into a rogue pariah state which, once more, threatens the stability of the whole southern African region.
Professor Paul Moorcraft is Director, The Centre for Foreign Policy Analysis, London. He lived in Rhodesia and Zimbabwe from 1976-81. He covered the war, inter alia, for Time magazine, and also taught politics and history at the University of Rhodesia/Zimbabwe. His doctorate was on the intelligence and military failures of the Rhodesian government. He also served in the A Reserve of the BSAP/ZRP for 18 months, after December 1979. In addition, he worked extensively as a journalist covering the conflicts throughout southern Africa from 1981-88. He worked for most of the Western TV networks as a freelance producer/war correspondent as well as lecturing full-time at ten major universities in journalism, politics and international relations. He has worked in 30 war zones in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Balkans, often with irregular forces, most recently in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine/Israel, Darfur and Nepal. He is a former senior instructor at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and the UK Joint Services Command and Staff College. He also worked in Corporate Communications in the UK Ministry of Defence in Whitehall. He is the author of a wide range of books on military history, politics and crime, as well as being an award-winning novelist. He is a regular broadcaster and contributor to UK and US newspapers as well as a pundit on BBC TV and radio, Sky, Al-Jazeera, CBC etc. A recent co-authored book is Axis of Evil: The War on Terror (Pen and Sword, 2005); the updated US edition is The New Wars of the West (Casemate, 2006). His co-authored study, with Professor Philip M Taylor, Shooting the Messenger: The Political Impact of War Reporting, was published by Potomac in 2008. He is also a Visiting Professor at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies.
Dr Peter McLaughlin is a history graduate of the University of Rhodesia. His doctorate was a study of the Rhodesian armed forces. He also served as a reservist in the British South Africa Police. After lecturing at the University of Zimbabwe, he won a fellowship at the London School of Economics, and then carved out a successful career as a headmaster at major public schools in Cairo and England.
An optional £6 sandwich lunch shall be available from 1215.
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