Diary of a Don

A view from the South

Peter Vale

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Peter Vale
Senior Research Fellow, Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship, University of Pretoria., University of Pretoria

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Cattle drink water from an almost dry dam in South Africa. The drought in the region is one of a number of troubling issues that remain largely hidden from public sight. Reuters/Rogan Ward

February 21, 2016

Southern Africa is hobbled by the language and legacy of its histories

Peter Vale, University of Johannesburg

One of the many intriguing ideas of the Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein, was this: the limits of my language means the limits of my world. Does this explain the failure to see the gathering gloom…

Refugees walk through a frozen field after crossing the border from Macedonia, near the village of Miratovac, Serbia. Reuters/Marko Djurica

January 25, 2016

Our understanding of states, sovereignty and statelessness is being tested

Peter Vale, University of Johannesburg

In contrast to what we have been taught - or teach our students - we are living in an increasingly hybrid world.

Presidents Hollande and Obama. Is it still possible for nation states to build a global alliance against organisations such as Daesh? Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

December 1, 2015

States and gangs: the difficult search for new ways to run the world

Peter Vale, University of Johannesburg

To save mankind from the scourge of war… These eight words drawn from the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations have been ringing in my head for the past week. Most believe that they were penned…