Darren Olivier
@darren_olivier
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Director at African Defence Review [email protected] — I’ll be spending more time at https://t.co/MS61SYSFqk
Joined November 2009
RT @barrybateman: @darren_olivier Over the years I’ve generally found the SANDF / DoD communication inadequate and they’re not prepared nor…
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@zappingzebra @vlok_andre This, on the other hand, is the completely wrong response. They should ban Mantashe from making any foreign policy related statements.
SOUTH AFRICANS MUST DEFEND OUR NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY
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RT @PiersPigou: Washington is creating chaos out there for many US administrators. Reckless and irresponsible, this administration simply…
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RT @deanwingrin: The repatriation of 14 SANDF soldiers who died in the DRC is underway after some delays. Defence analyst Dean Wingrin spea…
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RT @CPons_UK: "The U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique, Peter H. Vrooman, sent an urgent telegram to Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that M…
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RT @benryanwriter: George W. Bish believed that as the world’s wealthiest and most powerful nation, it was his duty as a Christian to save…
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This sort of thing is such an abuse of military assets. South Africa has been heading down the same path. Not all that long ago there had to be some very high level lobbying & public shaming to free up an Oryx helicopter on VVIP standby for a disaster response mission.
Like clockwork, NN has deployed their brand new AW-109 Trekker helicopters fitted out with luxurious interiors on Uber air duties for the political elite, 2 helicopters were recently spotted at a Groundbreaking Ceremony for NNPCL LNG Plants in Ajaokuta, Kogi State Just as expected.
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RT @McFaul: You can't beat somethin' with nothin'. China has a trillion-dollar Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) to win influence around the wo…
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@zappingzebra @vlok_andre That's the way I see it too. For instance GW Bush's admin was damaging, both for the US and the international world order, but at least you could trace it back to some kind of coherent (if overly confident and wrong) worldview and strategy.
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@vlok_andre @zappingzebra As an aside, I agree that the South African government should absolutely not be publicly dismissing the US's policy as irrational. Even though it's largely not rational the SA government has to pretend it is in its public rhetoric, while handling it as irrational in its strategy
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@vlok_andre @zappingzebra How were those irrational in an international relations sense? They had a consistent political, legal, and social framework, including United Nations Security Council resolutions on the subject. It's not at all the same situation.
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@vlok_andre It's possible that there is nothing that SA can do that will change Trump's mind on this, given his approach to grievances. In that case the best strategy is to pull back, avoid attracting his attention while subtly repositioning SA, and holding on for a rough four years.
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