Details
From 4 to 6 August 2026, the Ukrainian Association of South Africa (UAZA) hosted the Academic Winter School on Ukraine and Southern African Strategic Futures in the Western Cape, supported by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung and together with the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, the University of Pretoria and the University of Cape Town. The event brought together scholars from Ukraine, South Africa and other Southern African countries, including Botswana and Zimbabwe. Participants ranged from PhD candidates and young researchers to established professors and came from fields including international relations, economics, law, history and arts.
One focus of the Winter School was to provide a better understanding of Ukraine and its historical development. Lectures addressed Ukrainian statehood, periods of foreign rule and independence, as well as questions of Russification and decolonisation. Different historical narratives were examined in an academic setting and discussed against the available historical evidence. Other sessions looked at Ukrainian Studies, academic culture and the work of Ukrainian think tanks. The programme also considered links between Ukraine and Southern Africa that are less prominent in current political debate. These included migration, cultural connections and the role of Ukraine in relation to South Africa’s anti-apartheid struggle. In this way, the Winter School placed present-day relations within a broader historical context.
Another focus concerned the international order and the role of international law. Discussions on African perspectives on changes in the global order addressed the limits of existing multilateral institutions and possible reform of the United Nations. Other sessions dealt with human rights protection, compliance with international law and questions of security guarantees. A panel on the war in Ukraine considered its consequences from a Southern African perspective, including economic effects and the wider impact of a weakened international order on African countries. Across these sessions, participants considered how principles such as sovereignty, international law and democratic governance can be upheld in a changing international environment.
The lectures were complemented by workshops on international relations, history and memory, as well as human rights and international law. Diplomatic perspectives were added by former ambassadors, while discussions on Ukrainian-South African relations looked at opportunities for future academic cooperation and joint research. The Winter School provided a setting in which participants from different generations and disciplines could engage directly with Ukrainian perspectives and with each other. Beyond the individual sessions, its value lay in strengthening dialogue between Ukraine and Southern Africa and in creating contacts that can support further academic exchange.
