Gerrit Olivier 

Gerrit Olivier holds a PhD in International Politics from the University of Pretoria. He was senior lecturer in Political Science at the University of Zululand and professor of International Politics at the University of Pretoria. In 1983 he joined the South African diplomatic service, serving as the country’s first diplomatic representative in the Soviet Union and first Ambassador in the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan. In 1996 he was appointed at the Rand Afrikaans University (now University of Johannesburg) as director of the Centre for European Studies, a position he still holds. During his academic career he received research grants from the SA Human Science Research Council, the British Council, the Deutsche Akademische Austauchdienst (DAAD), the American and the Taiwanese Governments and was visiting fellow at the Centre for International Politics at Harvard University and the Moscow Institute for Diplomacy and International Relations (Mgimo). Professor Olivier was founding member of the South African Political Science Association, of which he also became the President and the first editor, for nine years, of the South African Journal of Political Science, Politikon. Positions he currently hold include that of Chairman of the International Committee of the SA Business Chamber (CHAMSA), ad hoc commissioner of the SA Broadcasting Complaints Commission and Chairman of the Pretoria Branch of the SA Institute of International Affairs.

Recent Publications

Books and Monographs:

Olivier, G. (2006) South Africa and the European Union: Self-interest, Ideology and Altruism

A Strategic Risk Analysis of the Attack on America of September 11th 2001 (Protea Book House, Pretoria) 2002.

Global Views on the European Union (Chaillot Paper 72, Institute for Strategic Studies, Paris) 2004.

"Redefining Russia's Place in the World", Global Focus, John Wiley & Sons: New York, Vol. 12, No. 4, Winter 2000.

"Regional Integration and African Revival" Africa Insight, Vol 31 No 3, September 2001

Is Thabo Mbeki Africa’s Saviour? International Affairs, Vol 79, No 4, July 2003

Russia’s Foreign Policy in the Post-Soviet Era, Global Dialogue, Vol 10.1, Feb 2005 (Institute for Global Dialogue, Johannesburg)

The EU, South Africa and the Search of Stability in Africa, Chaillot Paper No 72, November 2004 (Institute for Strategic Studies, Paris)

The Role of Ideology in South Africa’s Foreign Policy, Politeia.