African nemesis: war and revolution in southern Africa (1945-2010)

Abstract

If in the first half of this century war wrought its destruction mostly in Europe, it is the 'Third World' that has suffered its devastation in the second, none more so than countries in Africa. Conflict in the southern region of the continent has been of different kinds. Colonial wars of independence have occurred in Angola, Namibia, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe. Pretoria's destabilisation of neighbouring regimes, through military and economic power, is another type of conflict, and South Africa's own civil war a third. Each has been, or remains, bloody and destructive in their different ways. Hence Paul Moorcraft's title for his study of war and revolution in Southern Africa since 1945 invokes the Greek mythological figure Nemesis, the goddess of wrath, vengeance, and retribution. But the title does not just hint at the scale of destruction in the region, it suggests the overall theme of African Nemesis: war and revolution in Southern Africa, I945-200o. Namely, that those who have been subject to South Africa's brutality, inside the country and outside, will one day reach their nemesis, getting vengeance and retribution when apartheid collapses. As a journalist with an interest in military strategy, formerly based in Southern Africa, and one-time academic, Moorcraft has skills which combine well in this volume. He charts the emergence of South Africa as a regional power, militarily and economically dominant, and the militarisation of its domestic politics as a result of Pretoria's involvement in all three kinds of conflict. None of this is new, but Moorcraft's background adds new insights compared to many other analyses of the same phenomena. However, the book is weakest in its description of South Africa's civil war, which is, after all, political in nature not military. War and Society: the militarization of South Africa offers a better analysis of the domestic struggles. Although a few chapters deal with the Frontline states, most focus on the internal situation: the role of the Defence Force, the militarisation of political power, of the economy, and, most interestingly of all, of culture, with a final section on resistance. e volatile diamond market. All things consi ered, thi is a significant tribution to the literature n t only on Botswana, but also to the ield of the litical economy of third-world states. It deserves to b widely studied, and t to serve as a valuabl refer nce book, alt ough a second edition should l de some improvements. 340 REVIEWS