An Interview with Jakkie Cilliers, Executive Director of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS)

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) is dedicated to advancing human security on the African continent. Can you tell us more about your mission and how the ISS organizes itself to support it?

In terms of its mission, the ISS undertakes independent and authoritative research on a range of topics; it provides expert policy analysis and advice to seven key stakeholder groups; and it delivers practical training and technical assistance via its four regional offices, which are located in Addis Ababa, Pretoria, Dakar and Nairobi. Apart from our peacekeeping training for policemen and -women and our work on counter-terrorism, which is done in-country, most of the ISS’s training programs are done through the African Peace and Security Training Centre (ACPST) in our Addis Ababa office, where we also follow the work of the African Union very closely.

In terms of supporting its mission, the ISS both relies upon and is divided into the following four divisions.

• The division on Governance, Crime and Justice, which promotes democratic governance; lowers corruption, primarily through enhancing accountability, transparency and respect for human rights; and reduces crime and improves justice, mostly by assisting African governments to develop needed strategies and legislation, evidence-based policies, and effective criminal justice systems.
• The Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis division, which works to prevent conflict through the provision of a host of early warning services and improve the ability of states to perform human security-based risk analyses.
• The division on Conflict Management and Peace Building, which assists governments and relevant regional and international institutions in the provision of a range of peacekeeping trainings and research to build peace.
• Finally, the division on Transnational Threats and International Crime, which labors to enhance the ability of African inter-governmental organizations, national governments and civil society to respond more effectively and appropriately to transnational threats and international crimes.

The ISS is a non-profit trust and overseen by a Board of Trustees and benefits from the advice of an international Advisory Council chaired by former OAU Secretary-General Salim Ahmed Salim.

How has the ISS evolved into being a continental organization since its beginnings in South Africa?

The ISS has its earliest roots in a meeting held in Lusaka, Zambia, between a number of concerned South Africans and members of Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), which at the time was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC). The conference, which occurred in May 1990, was a groundbreaking event that involved security specialists and analysts from within and outside South Africa – indeed, it was the first of its kind. A major topic of discussion at the meeting, in which I was heavily involved, turned on defining the future of a post-apartheid South African military.

Hot on the heels of this discussion then came the forerunner of the ISS – i.e., the Institute for Defence Policy (IDP), which we initially established in Midrand with a staff of three people. Despite the subsequent opposition of the apartheid government, the IDP not only played a key role in helping transition South Africa into a genuine democracy, it also started to spread its wings and successively worked in fields such as crime and justice, the control of small arms, etc.

The ISS, after dedicating its energies to aiding and abetting South Africa's political transition from 1991 through 1996, then assumed a regional orientation, which ultimately resulted in the thriving and multi-dimensional continental organization that it is today.

This year, South Africa celebrates the 20th anniversary of its first ever multiracial democratic election. 20 years after apartheid, what in your view are South Africa’s most important security concerns?

Let me first emphasize that on a comparative basis, the scope and depth of South Africa’s transition to democracy remains unparalleled globally and that the country has made remarkable progress since 1994. This reminder is important because to the uninitiated it can appear that South Africa is perennially in crisis – i.e., that the doomsday clock is stuck at one minute to twelve. While there is little doubt that the country faces leadership challenges and requires a comprehensive resetting of key social, economic and political systems, the perennial sense of crisis discernible in much of the media is not borne out by deeper analyses of its structural foundations. In reality, South Africa’s prospects for structural growth are actually quite healthy and need to be kept in mind when talking about its broader security.

Now, as part of its work on the African Futures project (see below) the ISS has grappled with the question of South Africa’s long-term economic security, which has led to various publications and videos. These include a general review of the South African National Development Plan’s (NDP) growth targets (resulting in a external pagepublicationcall_made and short external pagevideocall_made); a revision of the NDP population forecast (see the external pagepublicationcall_made and short external pagevideo);call_madeand an analysis of how fracking fits into the NDP (available as a external pagepublicationcall_made and short external pagevideocall_made). We also recently produced a research paper that features a series of scenarios on external pageSouth African futures 2030call_made, as well as an associated short video that is available external pageherecall_made.

What the above (and large-scale) analyses tell us is that South Africa’s most fundamental security concerns continue to revolve around the triple challenges of poverty, inequality, and unemployment. Ameliorating these problems will require a focus on inclusive economic growth as the most important amongst many priorities. Indeed, the largest gains in reducing inequality will inevitably be made by creating employment opportunities. While social grants have been remarkably successful in alleviating extreme poverty, being part of the labor force locks in much higher income levels and associated inflation gains. Securing gains such as these is indeed what South Africa’s security is all about.

Can you tell us more about the ‘African Futures Project’?

After having worked on African peace and security issues for the last fifteen years, both my interests and a part of ISS’s interests have shifted to exploring possible long-term structural solutions to Africa’s problems of instability, underdevelopment and fragility. (To investigate this project in greater detail, please visit our dedicated site at external pagewww.issafrica.org/futurescall_made.) The venture, by the way, is in partnership the external pageFrederick S. Pardee Center for International Futurescall_made, which is located at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. The Pardee Center is the home of the International Futures (IFs) model, which the most sophisticated and comprehensive forecasting modeling system publicly available, and which is also used to produce forecasts for 186 countries up to the year 2100. We generally use the International Futures forecasting system in our work, which can be reviewed in a brief video external pageherecall_made.

Finally, apart from trying to anticipate South Africa’s future, we have additionally undertaken significant long-term work on the external pageprospects of Africa’s fragile statescall_made, on the external pagestructural drivers of intrastate conflictcall_made, etc.

For additional information please see:
external pageMore about the ISScall_made
external pageISS publicationscall_made
external pageISS Spotlightcall_made